ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has received from  (a) local authorities and  (b) associated bodies on the financial impact of section 68 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005; and what responses he has made.

Ben Bradshaw: DEFRA officials have held a number of discussions with the Local Government Association, local authorities and other interested organisations, about the financial impact of section 68 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act. When commenced, section 68 will transfer responsibility for stray dogs from the police solely to local authorities.
	In October last year, the Local Government Association contacted their members to calculate a representative cost estimate for local authorities to take on the duty set out in section 68. At the same time, the Association of Police Officers calculated the police's current spend on fulfilling their stray dog duties.
	A stakeholder group comprising of the Dogs Trust, Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, National Dog Warden Association, Dog Theft Action and representatives from dogs homes and kennels was convened in June 2006 to assist in developing a voluntary code of practice for stray dogs. This guidance will be made available to local authorities in time for the commencement of section 68.

Floodplain Building

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many buildings have been constructed on floodplains since May 1997.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on the numbers of buildings constructed on floodplains is not available centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Flood risk is a major factor in the location of new development. The Government published a new Planning Policy Statement (PPS25) in December 2006 to strengthen and clarify earlier policy on this issue. Flood risk must be taken into account at all stages of the planning process. Development that would not be safe in the higher flood risk areas should be directed to areas of lower risk wherever this is practicable. Where new development is necessary in higher risk areas because no viable alternative is available, steps must be taken at site level to make it safe if it is to be permitted. In those areas close to rivers where water must be allowed to flow in times of flood—the 'functional floodplain'—only a very restricted range of development associated with essential infrastructure should be permitted.

Waste Management: Planning Permission

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial cost was incurred by local authorities that rejected waste management planning applications which were subsequently accepted at appeal in  (a) 2001-02,  (b) 2002-03,  (c) 2003-04,  (d) 2004-05 and (e) 2005-06.

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on the costs incurred by local authorities on applications which are subsequently determined on appeal is not held by the Department.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many  (a) local health care clinics and  (b) hospitals there were in Afghanistan in each year between 1995 and 2006.

Gareth Thomas: The health care system in Afghanistan has suffered years of neglect. According to the Central Statistics Office's (CSO) Statistical Yearbook 2003, the percentage of expenditure on health between 1997 and 2000 was only 0.5 per cent. of GDP and the number of doctors per 1,000 people a mere 0.1 per cent. against an average of 2.2 per cent. for all developing countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that in 2001 the total expenditure on health was 5.2 per cent. of GDP.
	Although DFID is not directly engaged in the health sector, DFID officials in Kabul have contacted the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) for this data. The ministry have confirmed that the data requested is not available back to 1995.
	There are, though, signs that progress is being made. The World Bank, European Commission and The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are investing heavily in this sector. In the November 2006 report of the Joint Co-ordination and Monitoring Board, it was recorded that the Basic Package of Health Services (BPHS) has been expanded to 82 per cent. of the Afghan population. 856 standard health facilities are now functional; 82 facilities provide comprehensive emergency obstetric care, and 309 provide basic emergency obstetric care. 71 per cent. of all BPHS health facilities are now staffed with at least one female staff member. One district hospital, 22 basic Health Centres and 17 Comprehensive Health Centres have also been established.

AIDS

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's expenditure on tackling AIDS in developing countries; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: An interim evaluation of "Taking Action: The UK's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world", is currently under way. It is taking a detailed look at how the Government are implementing "Taking Action". The evaluation is due to be completed in spring 2007. We look forward to receiving the report and responding to it.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much British aid reached the people displaced by the military offensive in Karen state in 2006.

Gareth Thomas: In 2006, DFID provided approximately US$ 350,000 for support to internally displaced people through community-based groups in Eastern Burma. Approximately US$20,000 of that funding reached some of the 20,000 people displaced by the military offensive in Northern Karen state and Eastern Bago Division. The remainder of the funds were used to provide assistance to other communities affected by displacement in Eastern Burma, including support for displaced communities in relocation sites in Government-controlled areas, in cease-fire areas and in contested areas.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the 3D Fund for Burma will fund cross-border projects in order to reach people in areas to which the military regime refuses to allow access.

Gareth Thomas: The 3D Fund recognises the difficulties that it is likely to face in accessing civilians trapped in areas of conflict between the Burmese military and ethnic armed groups. In addition to pressing the Burmese authorities to increase access to these areas for humanitarian work, the 3D Fund will explore a range of other options for accessing these areas.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions representatives of the 3D Fund have had with the Karen National Union on the viability of funding projects in Karen state in areas not under control of the regime in Burma.

Gareth Thomas: 3D Fund representatives have had no direct discussions with the Karen National Union. The 3D Fund has, however, initiated discussions with a range of community-based organisations, local non-governmental organisations and ceasefire groups about how they can contribute to the 3D Fund's efforts to deliver services in areas which are not under the control of the military, including in Karen state.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the Global Fund spent in Burma during the period it operated there; and how much of that amount was spent on consultants.

Gareth Thomas: In the period during which the Global Fund operated in Burma, it disbursed approximately US$11.09 million in support of work on HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria. US$194,357 was spent on consultants in order to ensure effective fund management. Technical support and advice were provided through the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

Developing Countries: Elections

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department gives  (a) directly,  (b) through the EU and  (c) through the UN to assist with the cost of democratic elections in developing countries.

Gareth Thomas: DFID contributed £17.1 million as direct bilateral assistance in support of democratic elections in 2005-06, some of which will be provided through multilateral organisations based in developing countries.
	DFID also supports the UN and the EC in assisting developing countries to carry out democratic elections through core and non core contributions. However, DFID does not hold details of what proportion of our contributions to the UN or the EC were used to assist with the cost of democratic elections.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding his Department has allocated for the reconstruction and development of Iraq in each of the next three years; and through which channels the money will be distributed.

Gareth Thomas: The UK will spend at least another £100 million over the next three years on humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Iraq on top of our 2003 Madrid pledge of £544 million, which is now fully disbursed. This further allocation of £100 million brings the total UK commitment to £644 million.
	Some of this funding will be channelled through DFID's bilateral programme of assistance to Iraq. This will help the Iraqi Government to make better use of their substantial oil resources; and assist the Iraqi Government, at provincial and national level, to plan and deliver investment in basic services (electricity, hospitals, etc.), improve oil production levels, generate jobs and manage its own resources more effectively. In addition, funding will be channelled through the UK's contribution to EC funding for Iraq, and through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP).

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reconstruction and development objectives his Department set for  (a) education,  (b) water and sanitation,  (c) health care and  (d) microfinance in Iraq prior to the invasion of Iraq; to what extent they have been met; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: Prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, DFID objectives were to ensure that there was sufficient preparation to avert a major humanitarian crisis during and immediately after the conflict and facilitate the rapid restoration of essential services such as health care, power, and water and sanitation. Much of our initial support was channelled through United Nations agencies, the International Red Cross and non-governmental organisations. These organisations moved back into Iraq quickly and set up effective humanitarian operations after the major conflict ended. They had experience of working in Iraq, well-established local networks and a capacity to deliver assistance on the ground. While several agencies withdrew expatriate personnel from Iraq for security reasons during the remainder of 2003, many of their programmes continued under the management of well-qualified local staff.
	There have been successes:
	In education, over 5,000 schools have been rehabilitated; more than 100,000 primary and 40,000 secondary schools teachers have been trained; and over 70 million new textbooks distributed.
	In water and sanitation, around £660 million has been spent on over 300 projects to repair essential infrastructure; but decades of neglect and an ageing infrastructure means that the overall access to drinkable water and sewage systems remains similar to pre 2003 levels.
	In health care, over 5 million children have received life-saving vaccinations. More than 1,000 health care facilities have been rehabilitated or equipped, and more than 6,000 health workers trained. Through extensive disease control programmes, the prevalence of leishmaniasis, measles, malaria and polio has declined.
	In microfinance, two institutions are operating across Iraq, which have made US$78 million worth of loans to over 40,000 clients.
	Continued violence, including sabotage of key infrastructure facilities, and low (but growing) levels of technical capacity in Iraq's national and local governments have made progress difficult. However, Iraq is not a poor country. The Iraqi Government plans to spend over £20 billion (US$40 billion) in 2007. The real challenge is to help the Government of Iraq spend this money effectively so that Iraqis see real improvements. DFID is providing expert advice to help the Government do this at national and provincial level.

Iraq

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what estimate he has made of the levels of  (a) exports,  (b) imports and  (c) gross domestic product of Iraq in each year from 1995 to 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: Economic data for Iraq are patchy. There are little data on exports and imports, due to the lack of effective border control for several years, and international trade data have never been properly compiled. However, the World Bank provides the following data:
	
		
			  Balance of payments 
			  US$ million 
			   Gross domestic product (GDP)  Exports  Petroleum exports  Imports 
			 2000 25,900 16,527 16,476 — 
			 2001 18,900 12,009 11,941 — 
			 2002 19,000 9,711 9,653 9,817 
			 2003 12,600 10,082 8,459 10,063 
			 2004(1) 25,500 17,782 17,329 19,730 
			 2005(1) 29,300 23,032 22,443 19,957 
			 2006(2) — 28,372 27,660 23,354 
			 (1) Estimated (2 )Projected 
		
	
	Iraq's economy is powered by oil (oil accounts for approximately two-thirds of GDP and more than 95 per cent. of exports). Therefore, Iraq's ability to export oil has a strong impact on the strength of its economy. As a result, GDP, exports and imports have continued to grow since 2003.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Fixed Assets

Mark Francois: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs which fixed assets her Department sold for more than £10,000 in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; and what the (i) sale value, (ii) purchaser and (iii) date of sale was of each asset.

Bridget Prentice: The information requested is as follows.
	
		
			  Asset  Sale proceeds (£)  Purchaser  Date of sale 
			  2004-05 
			 Stewart House, 24 Kingsway 18,000,000 London School of Economics and Political Science 12 October 2004 
			 Rugby county court, 5 Newbold road 275,000 Dean Patrick O'Brien, Michael Anthony Roy King 18 February 2005 
			  2005-06 
			 Tameside county court, Scotland street 418,000 Chestergate Properties Ltd 20 June 2005 
			 Bow Street magistrates, 28 Bow street 7,434,000 Edward Leisure Assets 8 August 2005 
			 Bury county court, Tenterden street 700,592 Adonstar Limited 31 March 2006

Elections: Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps her Department is taking to collate information from the Crown Prosecution Service on the level of electoral fraud and the number of investigations into alleged fraud.

Bridget Prentice: My Department has previously obtained information from the CPS on the number of prosecutions for election offences. My officials, together with those in the Electoral Commission, are currently exploring with the CPS whether we can differentiate between allegations of electoral fraud and other election offences, as well as include cases of electoral malpractice where the charges may have been brought under offences not specific to elections.

Parliamentary Boundaries

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2007,  Official Report, column 337W, on parliamentary boundaries, how much in compensation was paid to the Boundary Commission by the failed claimants.

Bridget Prentice: £5,000 has been agreed in respect of Boundary Commission costs incurred in preparing the acknowledgement of service and summary grounds of opposition. Payment is due by 21 February 2007.

Prisoner Voting

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether British citizens imprisoned in jails overseas are eligible to vote in UK general elections if they have been resident in the UK in the last 15 years.

Bridget Prentice: The Representation of the People Act 1985 (as amended) provides a facility for British citizens overseas to retain their voting rights if they have been resident in the UK in the previous 15 years, so long as they are not otherwise subject to a legal incapacity to vote. The Representation of the People Act 1983 makes convicted prisoners detained in a penal institution (or unlawfully at large from one) legally incapable of voting in a UK general election. However, 'penal institution' is defined in the 1983 Act by reference to Prisons Acts, which do not extend to foreign jails.
	Accordingly, British citizens imprisoned in jails overseas are eligible to vote in UK general elections if they are otherwise eligible to vote as an overseas elector under the relevant provisions of the Representation of the People Act 1985.

Public Defender Service

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what her plans are for the Public Defender Service; and if she will make a statement.

Vera Baird: I am currently considering the future shape of the PDS and an announcement will be made shortly.

Religion: Discrimination

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if the Government will support repealing the residual discriminations in UK law and constitution in respect of  (a) dissenters,  (b) non-conformists and  (c) Roman Catholics when a legislative opportunity arises.

Bridget Prentice: Restrictions in the UK law and constitution on religious grounds are almost entirely limited to issues relating to accession to the Throne. The Government currently have no plans to bring forward legislation on this issue.

DEFENCE

Arms Training

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what his assessment is of the impact on arms training of the current operational tempo;
	(2)  how many battle group and above formation training exercises were cancelled in each of the last four years; and where each was due to take place.

Adam Ingram: holding answers 25 January 2007
	All arms training continues to be maintained at a level sufficient to ensure that our troops are fully equipped to deal with the exigencies of life in theatre. The Army plans its training activities and exercises many years in advance. Changes in circumstances, including those arising from operational commitments, will always mean that a few exercises have to be postponed or cancelled. All units deploying on operations receive the training necessary to complete the tasks required of them, including combined arms training at Battlegroup and Brigade level.
	The number of Battlegroup and above formation exercises cancelled in each of the last four years and where each was due to take place are shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  2003-04 
			  Number of exercises  Level of exercise  Location of exercise 
			 2 Battlegroup Canada 
			 2 Battlegroup United Kingdom 
			 2 Battlegroup Kenya 
			 1 Formation Poland 
		
	
	
		
			  2004-05 
			  Number of exercises  Level of exercise  Location of exercise 
			 2 Battlegroup Canada 
			 1 Battlegroup Kenya 
			 1 Battlegroup United Kingdom 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 
			  Number of exercises  Level of exercise  Location of exercise 
			 3 Battlegroup Canada 
			 1 Battlegroup Kenya 
		
	
	
		
			  2006-07 
			  Number of exercises  Level of exercise  Location of exercise 
			 2 Battlegroup Canada 
			 2 Battlegroup Kenya 
			 1 Formation Canada

Defence Schools Presentation Team

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which schools were visited by the Defence Schools Presentation Team in 2006; and if he will make a statement on the future of the Defence Schools Presentation Team.

Derek Twigg: For the last three years the Department has funded the Defence Schools Presentation Teams (DSPT) which tour secondary schools giving a half day interactive presentation on defence issues to 14 to 16-year-olds. There are five such teams covering different areas of the country, and during 2006 they booked over 490 visits including Comprehensive, Grammar, Independent, single sex, and Faith Schools (Church of England, Catholic, and Muslim). These presentations are extremely well received and do allow us to get our messages over about the importance of defence. Almost all schools ask for a repeat visit the following year which has lead to a yearly increase in presentations. Civilian and military staff are seen as excellent role models and there are consequently significant benefits for future recruiting. The actual investment in the Defence Schools Presentation Teams has been about £1.9 million per year. I have placed in the Library of the House a chart detailing the tasking of the five teams during 2006. Those serials which have been crossed out indicate a cancellation by the school prior to the event.
	The Department will be introducing a new schools e-learning product. Through creating an educational website called "Defence Dynamics", our main focus will be to provide Secondary School teachers of 14 to 16-year-olds with pre-packaged electronic lesson plans for GCSE exams with Defence themes. It has been planned as a ten year programme. Defence Dynamics will start with the delivery in September 2007 of 40+ lesson plans with audio-visuals in Science, Maths and English based on scenarios that reflect the professional work of the MOD and the armed forces worldwide. The material will be developed to support the requirements of the school curriculum and across a range of subject areas in the longer term. MOD will be working closely with DfES and the devolved Government education Departments in the UK. Initially the Defence Dynamics programme will run for two years with the aim to develop this for the long-term. An e-learning approach has been used successfully in Australian schools since 2002.
	The intention is to disband the touring Defence Schools Presentation Teams in July 2007 (the end of this academic year) and launch the new schools e-learning product in September 2007. The Department will, through this be maintaining its engagement with schools and switching to an approach that will enable us to reach many more children than are visited by the touring Defence Presentation Schools Teams, and at a significantly lower cost (£200,000 pa).

Disabled Submarine Evacuation

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 1 November 2006, what plans  (a) his Department and  (b) QinetiQ have for publishing the conclusions of research into safe procedures for escape from disabled submarines involving experiments on live goats.

Adam Ingram: The MOD does not publish the conclusions of research into safe procedures for escape from disabled submarines in open literature. Some information is communicated via Information Exchange Agreements and other arrangements to other submarine operating nations.

Hercules Aircraft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Hercules aircraft accepted from the contractor after being fitted with foam protection to their fuel tanks  (a) were ready for active service and  (b) required repairs due to fuel leaks.

Adam Ingram: I am withholding the number of Explosion Suppression Foam (ESF) equipped Hercules C-130 aircraft that are available for operations, as this information could prejudice the security of our armed forces.
	Fuel leaks were reported on two Hercules C-130 aircraft fitted with ESF. Both aircraft were returned to the contractor for repair and subsequently returned to the Front Line Command.

Kosovo: Peace Keeping Operations

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the status is of the British military presence in Kosovo; and what plans the Government have for changes to the number of British forces in Kosovo.

Adam Ingram: There are around 175 UK personnel in Kosovo working within the NATO-led KFOR and the UN Mission in Kosovo. No changes to this commitment are currently planned.

Kosovo: Peace Keeping Operations

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the status is of KFOR; what discussions he has had with his European Union and NATO counterparts on the future of the KFOR deployment; what the outcome was of those discussions; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: KFOR is the NATO force in Kosovo and currently comprises some 16,000 troops. The Defence Secretary regularly meets with his NATO and EU colleagues to discuss, inter alia, progress on and the future of, the KFOR mission.
	Decisions on the future of KFOR deployment will be made by NATO.

Military Aircraft: Transport

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether an RAF air transport flight rescheduled  (a) 24 hours or fewer,  (b) 12 hours or fewer and  (c) six hours or fewer before its departure is considered to have departed on time if it subsequently departs at its rescheduled time.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 5 February 2007
	No. Any rescheduled RAF or transport flight which departs within 24 hours or less of the originally scheduled departure time is recorded as "delayed".

Military Attachés

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which countries British military attachés are posted; and what plans he has to change the number of such posts.

Adam Ingram: The 80 countries listed are those where the UK currently has a resident accredited Defence Attache/Adviser. This global Defence Diplomacy network is subject to regular review as part of the normal planning process and to meet changing foreign and defence policy priorities. A recent FCO decision to withdraw its contribution to the cost of maintaining the Attache/Adviser network has necessitated such a review and this is underway. Decisions on any subsequent adjustments will not be made before the summer.
	Albania
	Algeria
	Argentina
	Australia
	Austria
	Bahrain
	Bangladesh
	Barbados
	Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Brazil
	Brunei
	Bulgaria
	Canada
	Chile
	China
	Colombia
	Congo (DRC)
	Croatia
	Cyprus
	Czech Republic
	Denmark
	Egypt
	Ethiopia
	Finland
	France
	Georgia
	Germany
	Ghana
	Greece
	Guatemala
	India
	Indonesia
	Iraq
	Ireland
	Israel
	Italy
	Jamaica
	Japan
	Jordan
	Kazakhstan
	Kenya
	Korea
	Kuwait
	Lebanon
	Lithuania
	Macedonia
	Malaysia
	Morocco
	Nepal
	New Zealand
	Netherlands
	Nigeria
	Norway
	Oman
	Pakistan
	Philippines
	Poland
	Portugal
	Qatar
	Romania
	Russia
	Saudi Arabia
	Serbia
	Sierra Leone
	Singapore
	Slovakia
	South Africa
	Spain
	Sri Lanka
	Sudan
	Sweden
	Syria
	Thailand
	Turkey
	Uganda
	Ukraine
	United Arab Emirates
	United States of America
	Yemen
	Zimbabwe

Non-lethal Operations

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on research on non-lethal weapons in each of the last five years.

Adam Ingram: Many technologies and the associated research can contribute to concepts termed non-lethal weapons. Therefore it is not possible to provide the exact research spend for the past five years.

Non-lethal Operations

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department is funding on the development of non-lethal weapons.

Adam Ingram: The term "non-lethal weapons" encompasses concepts supported by a broad range of technologies and therefore a large number of research programmes. Details of the MOD's interest in this area are stated in chapters B2 and B7 of the Defence Technology Strategy, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House.

Operational Allowance

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the total cost of the operational allowance for 2006-07 will be funded from the Treasury Reserve.

Derek Twigg: holding answer 20 November 2006
	The total cost of operational allowance for 2006-07 will be met from new money from the Treasury Reserve, as announced on 10 October 2006,  Official Report, column 175.

Procurement Projects

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the 20 largest procurement projects initiated by his Department since May 1997 have been; what the  (a) original budget,  (b) cost to date and  (c) consultancy fees have been; and what the final cost was of each project which has been completed.

Adam Ingram: The 20 largest equipment procurement projects that have passed their main investment decision point (Main Gate) since May 1997 are as follows:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Project  Main Gate approval( 1)  Total cost to 31 March 2006 
			 A400M—Heavy Transport Aircraft 2,700 200 
			 Advanced Jet Trainer 500 70 
			 Airborne Stand Off Radar (ASTOR) System 1,100 870 
			 Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missile 1,400 280 
			 Bowman—Data and Voice Communication 2,000 1,760 
			 C17—Strategic Airlift 790 500 
			 C Vehicle—Private Finance Initiative 710 20 
			 Future Joint Combat Aircraft 2,200 560 
			 Future Lynx(2) 2,000 0 
			 Combined Aerial Target Service(2) 430 0 
			 Merlin Capability Sustainment Programme 860 40 
			 Next Generation Light Anti-Armour Weapon 420 100 
			 Seawolf Missile System—Block 2 550 210 
			 Skynet 5—Satellite Communications 2,900 150 
			 Sonar 2087 390 180 
			 Successor Identification Friend or Foe 390 230 
			 Support Vehicles 1,600 20 
			 T45 Destroyer 5,500 2,800 
			 Trojan and Titan Engineer Vehicles 400 260 
			 Watchkeeper 900 40 
			 (1) Costs have been rounded to nearest £10 million if total expenditure is under £1 billion and to the nearest £100 million if total expenditure is over £1 billion. (2) Future Lynx and Combined Aerial Target Service were approved in June and December 2006 respectively. No costs were incurred for demonstration and manufacture as at 31 March 2006. 
		
	
	The costs shown are those demonstration and manufacture costs approved (the 'not to exceed' cost) at Main Gate and those incurred to 31 March 2006. None of the projects have been completed and therefore final costs have not been provided.
	Expenditure on consultancy fees related to these projects since 1997 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, I can advise that summaries of MOD expenditure on external assistance, of which consultancy is a part, are available in the Library of the House for the years 1995-96 to 2005-06.

Public Relations

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which public affairs firms were given contracts by  (a) his Department and  (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract.

Derek Twigg: The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Recruitment

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people were recruited to  (a) the Royal Navy and  (b) the Royal Air Force in each of the last 12 months; and how many of these recruits have become operationally available.

Derek Twigg: The following table shows recruits to the naval service for the period 1 October 2005 until 30 September 2006. Those listed as having joined the trained strength (completed phase 2 training) can be said to be operationally available.
	
		
			   Officers  Other ranks 
			  Intake in the month up to:  Intake  Joined trained strength  Intake  Joined trained strength 
			 1 November 2005 10 (1)— 390 — 
			 1 December 2005 40 (1)— 290 — 
			 1 January 2006 — (1)— 230 10 
			 1 February 2006 80 (1)— 340 20 
			 1 March 2006 50 (1)— 350 10 
			 1 April 2006 - (1)— 300 30 
			 1 May 2006 50 (1)— 170 20 
			 1 June 2006 20 (1)— 320 80 
			 1 July 2006 40 10 320 110 
			 1 August 2006 (1)— (1)— 390 120 
			 1 September 2006 (1)— (1)— 10 60 
			 1 October 2006 150 20 340 150 
			 Total 450 40 3450 610 
			 (1) Zero or rounded to zero.  Notes: 1. Due to the length of training courses, many of the intake above will still be in training. 2. The Naval Service comprises the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. 3. The latest available naval service figures are for 1 October 2006 and so the preceding 12 months figures are shown. 4. This table excludes 130 naval service personnel who entered during this period as trained and were therefore not subject to the training process. 
		
	
	The following table shows recruits to the Royal Air Force for the period 1 November 2005 until 31 October 2006. Those listed as having joined the trained strength (completed phase 2 training) can be said to be operationally available.
	
		
			   Officers  Other ranks 
			  Intake in the month up to:  Intake  Joined trained strength  Intake  Joined trained strength 
			 1 December 2005 20 (1)— 180 (1)— 
			 1 January 2006 60 (1)— 0 (1)— 
			 1 February 2006 10 (1)— 140 (1)— 
			 1 March 2006 110 (1)— 90 10 
			 1 April 2006 20 10 40 (1)— 
			 1 May 2006 (2)40 (1, 2)— (2)180 (1, 2)— 
			 1 June 2006 (2)70 (1, 2)— (2)260 (2)40 
			 1 July 2006 (1, 2)— (1, 2)— (2)60 (2)50 
			 1 August 2006 (2)60 (1, 2)— (2)180 (2)20 
			 1 September 2006 (2)30 (1, 2)— (2)120 (2)30 
			 1 October 2006 (2)30 (2)10 (2)60 (2)60 
			 1 November 2006 (2)130 (1, 2)— (2)220 (2)70 
			 Total (2)570 (2)20 (2)l,510 (2)290 
			 (1 )Zero or rounded to zero. (2) Provisional data. Due to the introduction of a new Personnel Administration System for RAF, all RAF data from 1 April 2006 are provisional and subject to review.  Notes: 1. Due to the length of training courses, many of the intake above will still be in training. 2. The latest available Royal Air Force figures are for 1 November 2006 and so the preceding 12 months figures are shown.

Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment have served in Afghanistan since British troops were deployed.

Adam Ingram: Three members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment have served in Afghanistan since British troops were deployed. One officer and one warrant officer are in Afghanistan at present; one officer served there during 2004-05.

Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the role of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment within the UK armed forces.

Adam Ingram: The Royal Gibraltar Regiment will continue to perform its primary role of supporting the defence and security of the territory of Gibraltar.

Royal Gibraltar Regiment

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many honours members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment have received since deployment in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: 34 members of the Royal Gibraltar Regiment have received the general service medal for service in Iraq. One officer has received the general service medal for service in Afghanistan, and was also awarded the military cross for gallantry in action; the same officer was also awarded the bronze star medal with 'valour' device by the United States Army. Another officer was awarded the bronze star medal by the United States Army for service in Iraq.

Service Families: Support Arrangements

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support his Department offers to the families of those who are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence places a very high priority on the welfare of its service personnel and their families. To that end, there are significant single service welfare resources in place for all personnel and their families which can be accessed through unit welfare and community support staff. This support is significantly increased during operational periods for the families of those deployed on operations. In particular extra travel allowances are available for dependants and close family members and a welfare grant is also made available to the parent unit to help fund group welfare activities and facilities.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Commission

Ken Purchase: To ask the hon. Member for Gosport, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission 
	(1)  how many  (a) employees and  (b) commissioners the Electoral Commission has;
	(2)  what the average remuneration of  (a) employees and  (b) commissioners of the Electoral Commission was in 2006-07;
	(3)  what the highest remuneration of  (a) an employee and  (b) a commissioner within the Electoral Commission was in 2006-07.

Peter Viggers: The Electoral Commission informs me that, as at 31 January 2007, the Commission employed 140 people. On the same date, there was one full-time Electoral Commissioner, the chairman, and four part-time Electoral Commissioners.
	The remuneration of Electoral Commissioners is determined in accordance with the provisions of Resolutions of the House of 26 March 2001 and 13 July 2004. The current annual salary of the chairman of the Commission is £151,960. The average remuneration of the part-time Commissioners for the ten months of the 2006-07 financial year to date is £23,860.
	The Commission informs me that the highest annual salary payable in 2006-07 to Commission staff in post at 31 January 2007 is £110,000 and the average is £33,350.

TRANSPORT

Airports

Denis MacShane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect on queues at airports in London of security measures introduced since August 2006.

Gillian Merron: The management of queues at London airports is a matter for the airport operator. While the Department is sympathetic to passengers who might have had to queue for longer than usual, it is important that security screening is carried out properly and to the required standard.

Aviation

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he is taking to reduce the amount of chemical trails from aircraft in UK airspace; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: I assume the hon. Member is referring to contrails. 'Contrails', which are ice crystal clouds that form at high altitudes from the exhaust products of aircraft but only when atmospheric conditions of temperature and humidity favour this. There are many uncertainties in this area and the Department is sponsoring research to reduce these and UK scientists are actively engaged in international research in this topic. The Department sponsored a major international scientific meeting last year which presented significant new research on the subject:
	http://www.pa.op.dir.de/tac/

British Food

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of food served in buildings occupied by his Department was of British origin in  (a) 2005 and  (b) 2006.

Gillian Merron: Within the Department, contract catering services are only used at the Department's HQ in London, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sites in Swansea, the Government Car and Despatch Agency (GCDA) in London and at the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) HQ in Bristol.
	In the Department's headquarters in London it is the policy of our catering provider to source the majority of its products from within the UK, unless occasionally for reasons of supply and competitive pricing it is necessary to obtain products from outside the UK. Typically this means that 100 per cent. of meat and poultry is of British origin, along with the majority of dairy products, fruits and salad items and vegetables.
	For the DVLA Swansea sites 85 per cent. of the items served were of British origin, broken down as follows:
	100 per cent. for soft drinks;
	70 per cent. for bakery products;
	90 per cent. for dairy products;
	100 per cent. for confectionery;
	30 per cent. for fruit and salad items;
	85 per cent. for vegetables;
	100 per cent. for meat and poultry; and
	100 per cent. for eggs.
	For both London HQ and DVLA the 2005 and 2006 breakdown is broadly the same.
	For the GCDA and VOSA the requested information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Bus Services: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations has he received on the location of bus stops in the London Borough of Bexley.

Gillian Merron: None. Bus stops in London are the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London.

Bus Services: Concessions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what revenue funding arrangements each public transport authority in the South East outside London concluded with  (a) Stagecoach,  (b) Arriva,  (c) Transdev and  (d) Firstbus prior to the passing of the statutory provision for concessionary fares; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The information requested is not held by the Department. Reimbursement paid to bus operators for providing concessionary travel is a matter for individual local authorities. The hon. Member might wish to contact local authorities for the information.

Bus Services: Lincolnshire

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much in financial support was made available for bus transport in North Lincolnshire in each year since 1996.

Gillian Merron: The following table sets out integrated transport block funding provided by DfT to North Lincolnshire council from 1997-98 to 2006-07. The integrated transport block allocations have been available for the council to use on road and public transport improvements, according to its local policies and priorities.
	
		
			  North Lincolnshire council 
			  £ million 
			   Integrated transport block 
			 1997-98 (1)0 
			 1998-99 (1)0 
			 1999-2000 (1)0.2 
			 2000-01 0.450 
			 2001-02 1.2 
			 2002-03 2.2 
			 2003-04 2.9 
			 2004-05 3.156 
			 2005-06 2.7 
			 2006-07 1.670 
			 (1) Figures are minor works allocations (a precursor to the integrated transport block). 
		
	
	Since 1998, the Department has also separately provided specific grant funding to local authorities for bus services through the Rural Bus Subsidy Grant (RBSG), the Rural and Urban Bus Challenge and the Kickstart schemes. The following table shows the amounts provided under these grants to North Lincolnshire council.
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 1998-99 345,545 
			 1999-2000 371,783 
			 2000-01 257,450 
			 2001-02 328,744 
			 2002-03 860,219 
			 2003-04 384,195 
			 2004-05 395,721 
			 2005-06 411,237 
			 2006-07 421,324 
		
	
	The majority of support for local bus services is provided by local authorities using the Government's Revenue Support Grant (RSG), which is an unhypothecated block grant, and authorities' own resources. It is for each authority to decide how much of their RSG allocation to devote to bus support.

Bus Services: Vandalism

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus stops have been vandalised in each of the last 10 years.

Gillian Merron: This information is not collected by central government. Individual local authorities may hold data about damage to bus stops in their own areas.

Bus Services: Passengers

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the average number of passengers on a bus in the public transport system in England in the last 12 months.

Gillian Merron: The average number of passengers on a bus in the public transport system in England was nine in 2005-06—the last period for which the data are available. The average includes both peak and off-peak bus journeys and is mileage-based, so long rural bus routes with few passengers have a relatively large influence on the estimate.

Challenge Schemes

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether school transport proposals are eligible for funding awards under the Challenge Schemes.

Gillian Merron: I assume the question has in mind the Department's Rural (RBC) and Urban Bus Challenge (UBC) competitions.
	RBC and UBC competitions were held between 1998 and 2003 and provided funding for innovative ideas for improving local transport and addressing social exclusion in rural and urban areas. The criteria for these competitions allowed for a wide range of schemes to compete for funding, including bids aimed at improving transport to schools. The projects supported brought enhancements to rural and urban bus services improving the links of the communities served to essential services and facilities. In a number of cases, improved links to educational facilities were specifically identified as among the benefits secured.

Concessionary Fare Schemes

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the amount of subsidy support for concessionary fares schemes, under the national scheme, that local transport authorities will have to bear from their own budgets; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: From April 2008, persons 60 and over, and disabled people, will be guaranteed free off-peak local bus travel anywhere in England. The Government have earmarked up to an extra £250 million per year which for this, and is confident that this should be sufficient to cover the total additional cost to local authorities.
	Local authorities have, and will retain, the discretion to offer (and fund from their own resources) enhancements to the statutory minimum, such as peak bus travel and/or concessions on other modes.

Concessionary Travel

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will estimate the cost of introducing free public transport on buses for  (a) young people under 18 and  (b) young people under 21;
	(2)  if he will estimate the cost of providing free public transport for all school children, broken down by mode of transport.

Gillian Merron: Analysis for the Department for Transport estimated the 'marginal' costs (in 2002-03 prices) of extending existing concessions offered by local authorities in their areas to free 'bus' travel, at all time and for all purposes, for five to 16-year-olds at around £365 million per year, and around a further £160 million per year for 17 and 18-year-olds. A total extra cost of approximately £525 million per annum. These estimates are for England only, are restricted to concessionary bus travel within the local authority in which the concessionaire is resident, and excludes any Barnett consequentials. The Department has no cost information on concessionary travel for people aged 18 to 21 years and on other forms of public transport for children and young people.
	At the present time, the Department does not have an estimate of the cost of free public transport for children and young people across England. This is extremely difficult to estimate due to the uncertainties about: take-up, the extra concessionary travel generated, the switch from dedicated school transport, travel behaviour and the amount of additional capacity required. The existence of all these inter-related variables creates significant uncertainty in any estimate.

Dartford Tunnel: Tolls

Angela Watkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what arrangements have been made to consult and inform  (a) neighbouring local authorities,  (b) private motorists and  (c) commercial users on plans to increase charges for using the M25 Dartford Crossing;
	(2)  what increase he plans to introduce for users of the M25 Dartford Crossing;
	(3)  for how long he plans to charge motorists for using the M25 Dartford Crossing;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the likely impact on the number of vehicles using the M25 Dartford Crossing of increasing the toll charge.

Stephen Ladyman: I refer the hon. Member to my written statement to the House on 19 October 2006,  Official Report, columns 59-60WS, and the consultation document on "Proposed changes to charges at the Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing" that we published, which is in the Libraries of the House and on the Department's website.

Departmental Consultants

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much his Department has spent on services from Waverley Management Consultants in the past three years; and who within the Department has used the reports prepared by the firm.

Gillian Merron: Waverley Management Consultants were awarded a contract in February 2006 by the Department for £15,000 to develop a scenario planning toolkit. The toolkit was published on the internet in January 2007 at the following address
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/scienceresearch/futures/secsceniss/.
	The toolkit provides policymakers and other stakeholders with resources they need to explore scenarios and use them to support their own decision making.

Departmental Expenditure

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the expenditure by his Department on buying, operating and supporting  (a) all commercial software products and  (b) software products produced by Microsoft was in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron: The following table sets out the information on expenditure on software products that is available for the central Department and each Executive Agency.
	The central Department and its Executive Agencies use separate accounting systems that record expenditure in different ways. To obtain the information in the format requested would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Summary of the cost of Software Purchases 
			  £ 
			   2003-04  2004-05 
			  Organisation  Total cost of all ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection  Total cost of all Microsoft ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection  Total cost of all ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection  Total cost of all Microsoft ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection 
			 DfT(C) London HQ 1,340,005 217,195 879,883 184,622 
			 Highways Agency 2,600,000 672,000 3,350,000 1,450,000 
			 DVLA(1) 21,170,000 n/a 13,157,000 n/a 
			 DSA(2) 61,286 55,926 414,009 399,383 
			 MCA 211,135 3,214 128,718 13,225 
			 VOSA(3) n/a n/a 463,815 n/a 
			 VGA 18,220 5,750 48,000 18,300 
			 GCDA(4) — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			  £ 
			   2005-06  Total 
			  Organisation  Total cost of all ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection  Total cost of all Microsoft ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection  Total cost of all ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection  Total cost of all Microsoft ICT Software—including the cost of the licence, maintenance and upgrade protection 
			 DfT(C) London HQ 1,039,052 85,416 3,258,940 487,233 
			 Highways Agency 3,076,000 960,000 9,026,000 3,082,000 
			 DVLA(1) 11,374,000 n/a 45,701,000 n/a 
			 DSA(2) 797,234 61,339 1,272,529 516,648 
			 MCA 151,058 30,115 490,911 46,554 
			 VOSA(3) 343,501 n/a 807,316 n/a 
			 VGA 34,900 16,780 101,120 40,830 
			 GCDA(4) 36,126 300 36,126 300 
			 n/a = not available (1) DVLA is unable to provide a breakdown in the format requested but can provide a total cost of annual software expenditure. (2) Maintenance and upgrade protection costs for DSA are included within the capital purchase price and are excluded from these totals. (3) VOSA's IT services are managed by a contractor who purchases all software on their behalf. This contractor has provided figures for software and maintenance costs for calendar year 2005 (see 2004-05) and calendar year 2006 (see 2005-06). Figures for calendar year 2004 and separate figures for Microsoft purchases are not available. (4) GCDA became an Executive Agency of DfT in November 2005.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency failed to send out reminder notices for car tax renewal to residents of the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency in the last 12 months.

Stephen Ladyman: There were no widespread instances in the last 12 months where the DVLA failed to issue the vehicle licence application reminder (V11) notices in the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency or any other.
	There have been no processing or dispatch difficulties that could account for any significant problems. However, changes to the rate of vehicle excise duty (VED) announced in the March 2005 Budget did cause discrepancies to some vehicle records. This resulted in V11 forms not being forwarded for those vehicles whose licenses needed renewing in April 2006. This problem only affected licences due in this particular month.

Great Western Trains

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost is for First Great Western to hire an  (a) Mark III first class carriage,  (b) Mark III standard class carriage and  (c) Mark III buffet bar carriage.

Tom Harris: Details of lease costs are a commercial matter between First Great Western and the rolling stock company.

Immobilisation of Vehicles

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make it his policy to set a ceiling on the level of charges imposed by private clamping companies; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: When considering the charges levied for vehicle clamping services on local authority owned land, including the highways for which they are responsible, local authorities are directed by Circular 1/95 (Guidance on Decriminalised Parking Enforcement Outside London) to set charges according to the cost of providing the service. Local authorities are obliged to keep a record of the charges levied for clamping and removal services, and to avoid setting charge levels that will result in a surplus income being generated.
	With regard to the clamping of vehicles on privately owned land, the Private Security Industry Act 2001 provides for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to licence individuals who carry out licensable vehicle immobilising activities as defined by the Act and to ensure that they comply with the licensing requirements. It does not provide for the regulation of fees or other commercial matters. We have discussed this matter with the Home Office and I understand that there are no plans to regulate this area further.

Park and Ride Schemes

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage local authorities to introduce park and ride schemes.

Gillian Merron: Park and ride schemes are playing an important part in helping to reduce congestion in many localities. During the first Local Transport Plan (LTP) period (2001-06), local transport authorities in England (outside of London) spent a total of 72.5 million of LTP funding on improving 92 existing park and ride facilities and delivering 76 new park and ride schemes. In recognition of this, the Department gave credit in its assessment of delivery of the first Local Transport Plans to those authorities that delivered substantial increases in park and ride facilities.
	In the full guidance on the second Local Transport Plans (2006-11), published in December 2004, the Department indicated that tackling congestion remained a key priority and that a range of policy tools should be considered by local authorities. It then assessed how convincingly local authorities considered the range of available tools (including park and ride) before determining the final distribution of funding support for the Local Transport Plans.

Public Transport

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to encourage people to use public transport.

Gillian Merron: The Government are encouraging people to use public transport through sustained investment to improve services and by providing better information on journeys, for instance through Transport Direct. This is helping make public transport a realistic and attractive option for more journeys. We have also set out new proposals to create the right framework for the delivery of better bus services to meet the needs of passengers.

Rail Franchises

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date he expects to publish his response to the Transport Select Committee's report on rail franchising.

Tom Harris: The Transport Select Committee published the Government's response to their report on passenger rail franchising (14(th) report of Session 2005-06) on 29 January 2007 (first special report of Session 2006-07), copies of which are available from the Vote Office.

Rail Services

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the change in numbers of passengers on Virgin Trains heading south from  (a) Manchester,  (b) Birmingham and  (c) Liverpool through Milton Keynes in each of the next 10 years.

Tom Harris: Virgin West Coast Trains is planning on an increase in the number of passenger journeys, principally from the long distance destinations of Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool as well the north west and Scotland, from a total of 20 million a year in 2006-07 to more than 30 million a year by 2011-12. The Department expect further and similar growth, year by year, on the route in the period beyond 2012.

Railway Stations

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many rail platforms have been lengthened since 1997.

Tom Harris: This is an operational matter for Network Rail, as the owner and operator of the national rail network. The hon. Member should contact Network Rail's chief executive at the following address for a response to his question.
	John Armitt
	Chief Executive
	Network Rail
	40 Melton Street
	London NW1 2EE

Railway Stations

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) unmanned and  (b) manned overground train stations there were in each of the last 10 years.

Tom Harris: This information is not held by the Department. Responsibility for stations rests with Network Rail (who operate 17 principal stations) and with the train operating companies. Although the Association of Train Operating Companies maintains current records, they have advised that they do not hold historical information on station staffing. I refer the hon. Member to my reply of 18 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1448W on Railway Stations: According to the records of the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) 1187 stations are unmanned Monday to Saturday and 1649 on Sundays.

Railway Stations

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding is available from his Department to  (a) renovate and  (b) re-open railway stations and station halts.

Tom Harris: Station operators are required to maintain station facilities to an acceptable condition and Network Rail to maintain the station structures to a safe, operational condition. Where renovation is required it is funded by the operator or Network Rail.
	Where proposals are put forward for station re-opening schemes, the Department would expect them to include funding proposals either through third party schemes or Local Transport Plans.

Railways

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the role of the railways in creating sustainable communities; and if he would make a statement.

Tom Harris: The Secretary of State for Transport and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government meet as a matter of course. It is not the normal practice of the Government to release details of meetings.

Railways: Closed Circuit Television

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many CCTV cameras cover train stations in England and Wales; and how many people monitor these cameras.

Tom Harris: This information is not held centrally. CCTV is provided under a variety of schemes including those of Network Rail, train operating companies and local authorities.

Railways: Franchises

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which railway stations will have a reduced service as a result of franchise specifications drawn up by his Department in the past three years.

Tom Harris: Following on from the 'Future of Rail' White Paper (July 2004) and commencement of the Railways Act (Summer 2005), the Department has been responsible for drawing up franchise specifications for the South Western, East Midlands, West Midlands, and New Cross Country franchises.
	Further detail is provided in the stakeholder briefing documents available on our website copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. These documents summarise the service pattern changes proposed in the Invitations to Tender we issue to bidders. It should be noted, however, that the Department for Transport's approach to specification gives operators the flexibility to run more services, where this is operationally practicable, since we specify minimum, not maximum, service levels.

Railways: Franchises

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to review the procedure for the allocation of franchises to train operating companies.

Tom Harris: As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, the Department for Transport (DfT) undertakes a 'Lessons Learned' exercise at the conclusion of every franchise replacement process to understand whether any areas for improvement have been identified. These are then incorporated into the procedures for subsequent franchise replacements. Therefore, the procedures being used for the replacement of the New Cross Country, East Midlands and West Midlands franchises incorporate improvements to the process identified from the recently completed franchises.
	Details of the franchise replacement process are available on the DfT website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the scope for increasing commuter use of local rail services in Greater Manchester.

Tom Harris: The North West Regional Planning Assessment (RPA) for the railway made a strategic assessment of commuting in Greater Manchester and sets out options for development of the railway in the North West. The RPA has informed Network Rail's North West Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS), which makes a more detailed assessment of the scope for increasing commuter use of local rail services in Greater Manchester.

Railways: Milton Keynes

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of rail passengers travelling between  (a) 7 am and 9 am and  (b) 5 pm and 7 pm (i) from (A) Bletchley, (B) Wolverton and (C) Milton Keynes Central to (1) London Euston, (2) Birmingham and (3) other northern destinations and (ii) to (x) Bletchley, (y) Wolverton and (z) Milton Keynes Central from (X) London Euston, (Y) Birmingham and (Z) other northern destinations.

Tom Harris: The Department for Transport does not hold this information. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) does however publish regional passenger flows in the National Rail Trends Yearbook editions, which are available in the House Libraries or from, their website:
	www.rail-reg.gov.uk

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Advertising

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1516W, on advertising, how much of the expenditure was spent solely on  (a) sponsoring supplements and  (b) advertorials; and what the topic of each advertorial and supplement was.

Angela Smith: There was no expenditure on sponsoring supplements or advertorials with  The Guardian newspaper, including online, in the financial year 2005-06.

Business Rates

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many businesses in  (a) rural and  (b) urban areas have a rateable value of less than 25,000; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: In the 2005 non domestic rating lists, which is available on www.voa.gov.uk, there are  (a) 367,202 rating assessments in a local authority which is classified as being a mainly rural area and  (b) 670,300 rating assessments in a local authority which is classified as being an urban area, as defined by DEFRA guidelines, with a rateable value of less than 25,000. There are a further 336,100 rating assessments classified as being in a mixed area.
	It is not possible to provide the number of businesses without disproportionate cost.

Concessionary Bus Travel

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities she expects not to receive sufficient additional funding to cover costs they have incurred in relation to the concessionary bus travel scheme.

Phil Woolas: The Government policy is not to ring fence grant unless there are exceptional circumstances. The Government have provided an overall increase in Government grant of 3.1 billion or 4.9 per cent. in 2007-08 for all local services including local authorities' responsibilities for concessionary travel schemes. This includes an additional 367 million for the recent improvement in the statutory minimum concessionary travel scheme. It is for local authorities to develop and implement affordable schemes with local bus providers which deliver effective concessionary travel to meet their statutory responsibilities, and also achieve the aims of those additional concessions which local people wish to see run in their areas.

Decent Homes Standard

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government why responsibility for reaching the Decent Homes target by 2010 has been transferred from her Department to Communities England.

Yvette Cooper: Communities England is the proposed new national housing and regeneration agency, which will combine English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and a range of key delivery functions from the Department, including in the area of Decent Homes.
	The Government will consult on its plans for Communities England later in 2007.

Decent Homes Standard

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes in West Lancashire have been included in the Government's decent homes scheme.

Yvette Cooper: In 2001 West Lancashire district council owned 8,068 homes. All these homes were part of the decent homes programme as they all had to be made decent.
	At March 2002 the council reported that 3,132 were non-decent, at March 2006 the council reported that 980 were still below the decent homes standard.
	In 2006 there were 567 homes owned by Registered Social Landlords in West Lancashire, of which 137 where non-decent. We do not hold data on how many were non-decent in the past.
	The decent homes programme also covers non decent homes in the private sector occupied by vulnerable households but we do not have any figures at local authority level.

Departmental Expenditure

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much programme expenditure sponsored by her Department was spent via each of the Government Offices for the Regions in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Angela Smith: 2004-05 is the latest year for which an analysis of expenditure outturn by region has been published by the Treasury. Total programme expenditure for Communities and Local Government managed by Government Offices for 2004-05 was as follows:
	
		
			  Government office  Total Communities and Local Government programme spend by GO ( million) 
			 East 25.9 
			 East Midlands 32.6 
			 North East 78.8 
			 NorthWest 136.1 
			 South East 24.5 
			 SouthWest 34.1 
			 West Midlands 86.4 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 123.6 
			 London 129.5 
			 Total 671.5 
		
	
	Estimated administration and programme spend by Communities and Local Government for 2006-07 through Government Offices was provided to the hon. Member for Shrewsbury and Atcham (Daniel Kawczynski) on 6 February 2007,  Official Report, column 784W and to the hon. Member for Ruislip-Northwood on 25 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1924W.

Homelessness

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will introduce proposals to place local authorities under an obligation to assist former members of the armed forces and their families who are homeless.

Yvette Cooper: Under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996), local housing authorities in England must provide assistance to housing applicants who are homeless or likely to become homeless within 28 days and who are eligible for assistance. This includes applicants who are former members of the armed forces and their families.

Housing

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many Homebuy loans were issued to support key workers in  (a) Dorset and  (b) Hampshire in the last period for which data are available.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 25 January 2007
	The Key Worker Living (KWL) programme does not currently operate in Dorset.
	In Hampshire 840 key workers have been helped through the Open Market HomeBuy equity loan product of the KWL programme, since April 2004.
	In addition other first time buyers in Dorset and Hampshire have been helped into shared ownership schemes.

Housing

Alan Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her estimate is of the level of home ownership in  (a) each local authority area and  (b) each region in each year since 1979.

Yvette Cooper: Reliable estimates of home ownership at local authority level are only available from census dataand the most recent figures, from the 2001 census, can be found at the following link:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/asv2htm.aspx?output=dn87000_{3D4CE8BF-B1FD-4795-95A5-5AB108566D72}
	Annual estimates of home ownership at regional level are available from household surveys. These figures include a margin of error and can therefore fluctuate between years. Estimates are only available for some of the early years: 1981, 1984 and 1988. Annual figures are available from 1991. Estimates are shown in two tables because the data for the years 1981, 1984, 1988 and 1991 are only available by standard statistical region and data for subsequent years, 1992-2006, are only available by Government office region.
	
		
			  Table 1: Home ownership by standard statistical region, 1981-1991number of households (thousand) in owner occupation and expressed as a proportion of all households 
			   Standard statistical region 
			   North  North-west  Yorkshire and Humberside 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1981 533 46 1,406 60 1,038 57 
			 1984 635 53 1,505 62 1,091 58 
			 1988 703 57 1,646 66 1,220 63 
			 1991 726 58 1,322 66 1,732 68 
		
	
	
		
			   Standard statistical region 
			   East midlands  West midlands 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1981 833 60 1,047 56 
			 1984 910 62 1,177 62 
			 1988 1,031 68 1,325 66 
			 1991 1,139 71 1,376 68 
		
	
	
		
			   Standard statistical region 
			   East Anglia  London  South-east 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1981 429 62 1,243 48 2,280 63 
			 1984 466 63 1,385 51 2,658 68 
			 1988 528 65 1,524 55 2,978 73 
			 1991 576 67 1,653 59 3,139 73 
		
	
	
		
			   Standard statistical region 
			   South-west  England 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1981 1,037 63 9,847 58 
			 1984 1,126 66 10,952 61 
			 1988 1,294 72 12,248 66 
			 1991 1,387 73 13,050 68 
			  Source: DoE Labour Force Survey Housing Trailer 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Home ownership by Government office region, 1992 to 2006number of households (thousand) in owner occupation and expressed as a proportion of all households 
			   Government office region 
			   North-east  North-west  Yorkshire and the Humber 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1992 628 60 1,862 69 1,294 66 
			 1993 655 62 1,925 70 1,329 66 
			 1994 652 62 1,958 70 1,350 67 
			 1995 649 61 1,905 68 1,342 67 
			 1996 657 61 1,909 68 1,343 66 
			 1997 675 63 1,912 69 1,362 67 
			 1998 665 62 1,923 69 1,355 66 
			 1999 656 62 1,967 71 1,400 68 
			 2000 689 65 1,999 72 1,439 69 
			 2001 687 64 2,014 72 1,429 68 
			 2002 703 65 2,003 71 1,448 68 
			 2003 717 66 2,051 74 1,482 70 
			 2004 706 65 2,018 72 1,509 71 
			 2005 704 65 2,010 72 1,488 70 
			 2006 719 66 2,058 73 1,484 70 
		
	
	
		
			   Government office region 
			   East midlands  West midlands 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1992 1,138 71 1,351 67 
			 1993 1,140 71 1,387 68 
			 1994 1,191 73 1,396 68 
			 1995 1,166 71 1,432 68 
			 1996 1,186 72 1,440 68 
			 1997 1,197 71 1,456 69 
			 1998 1,238 73 1,501 70 
			 1999 1,253 74 1,510 71 
			 2000 1,263 73 1,511 71 
			 2001 1,270 73 1,517 72 
			 2002 1,266 73 1,582 73 
			 2003 1,274 73 1,561 72 
			 2004 1,332 75 1,541 72 
			 2005 1,304 75 1,598 74 
			 2006 1,337 75 1,540 72 
		
	
	
		
			   Government region 
			   East  London  South-east 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1992 1,472 72 1,629 59 2,286 75 
			 1993 1,484 72 1,622 58 2,301 75 
			 1994 1,492 71 1,618 57 2,341 75 
			 1995 1,516 72 1,644 58 2,362 75 
			 1996 1,533 72 1,651 58 2,357 74 
			 1997 1,530 71 1,631 58 2,373 74 
			 1998 1,596 74 1,633 58 2,384 74 
			 1999 1,622 74 1,663 58 2,433 75 
			 2000 1,644 74 1,708 59 2,471 76 
			 2001 1,658 74 1,703 59 2,444 75 
			 2002 1,646 74 1,697 58 2,522 76 
			 2003 1,649 74 1,703 58 2,550 75 
			 2004 1,688 75 1,678 58 2,534 75 
			 2005 1,691 74 1,690 58 2,579 75 
			 2006 1,688 73 1,652 56 2,562 75 
		
	
	
		
			  Government region 
			   South-west  England 
			   Number (Thousand)  Percentage  Number (Thousand)  Percentage 
			 1992 1,403 74 13,063 68 
			 1993 1,427 72 13,270 68 
			 1994 1,423 73 13,420 69 
			 1995 1,440 74 13,456 69 
			 1996 1,445 74 13,521 69 
			 1997 1,442 73 13,579 69 
			 1998 1,479 74 13,775 69 
			 1999 1,511 74 14,015 70 
			 2000 1,532 75 14,257 71 
			 2001 1,557 75 14,278 70 
			 2002 1,576 75 14,443 70 
			 2003 1,574 74 14,562 71 
			 2004 1,560 74 14,567 71 
			 2005 1,569 74 14,633 71 
			 2006 1,573 73 14,613 70 
			  Note: Government office regions (GOR) differ from standard statistical regions (SSR) in the following respects: 1. South East GOR = South East SSR less Beds, Herts and Essex 2. East GOR = East Anglia SSR plus Beds, Herts and Essex 3. North East GOR = North SSR less Cumbria 4. North West GOR = North West SSR plus Cumbria All other GORs are exactly the same as the SSRs of the same name.  Source: ONS Labour Force Survey

Housing

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will allocate specific funds for key worker loans in Dorset.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 26 January 2007
	The key worker living programme is focused on helping key workers in London, the east and the south-east of England regions with funding coming from those regions' allocations. In 2005, the South West Regional Housing Board declined the opportunity to specifically allocate resources to key worker schemes in 2006-07 or 2007-08. The South West Regional Housing Board did however recommend that key public sector workers providing essential public services should be one of their priority groups for low cost home ownership assistance through the 2006-07 to 2007-08 national affordable housing programme.

Housing

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she will announce which bids for the sixth round of arm's length management organisations have been successful.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 26 January 2007
	We are continuing to consider the Round 6 ALMO bids.

Housing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department is having with EU-based manufacturers of construction materials on the plans to introduce zero carbon housing.

Angela Smith: We are in discussion with the Construction Products Association, who represents EU-based manufacturers among other organisations, about the consultation proposals to move towards zero carbon homes by 2016.

Housing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the cost implications for the house building industry of the proposal to introduce zero carbon housing.

Angela Smith: A partial regulatory impact assessment has been published alongside the proposal in Building a Greener Future to move towards zero carbon homes by 2016. This assessment shows that the costs of delivering a 25 per cent. improvement in energy/carbon levels is around 2-3 per cent., or around 3,000 per dwelling, on the basis of current technologies. As we move on to lower energy/carbon housing in the future, the costs are inevitably more uncertain as they will depend on the technologies delivered by the market, and cost reductions achieved through economies of scale and over time.
	A final regulatory impact assessment, which will set out the expected costs implications, will be published alongside the final policy statement in the summer 2007.

Housing

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she is having with UK manufacturers of construction materials in preparation for the introduction of zero carbon homes by 2017.

Angela Smith: We are in discussion with the Construction Products Association, which represents UK manufacturers amongst other organisations, about the consultation proposals to move towards zero carbon homes by 2016.

Housing: Elderly

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is taking to ensure housebuilding programmes take into account the needs of older people.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 5 February 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 26 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 2097-98W.

Housing: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many council houses are vacant in Milton Keynes.

Yvette Cooper: Milton Keynes district council reported a total of 210 vacant council dwellings at 1 April 2006.
	These figures are based on all vacancies, including those of less than six months and are as reported by each district as at 1 April 2006 through the Housing Strategy Statistical Return (HSSA).

Housing: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans English Partnerships has for developing pilot schemes for community land trusts in Milton Keynes.

Yvette Cooper: English Partnerships is considering the case for a community land trust pilot scheme on a former hospital site at Cashes Green, Stroud. Evidence from this and other developing community land trusts will demonstrate whether they can be applied more widely.

Housing: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many new homes English Partnerships expects to be built east of the M1 motorway within the bounds of Milton Keynes Unitary Authority by 2031, broken down by estimated year of completion and location.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 29 January 2007
	The level of housing to be provided will be established by the South East Regional Spatial Strategy and the relevant local development frameworks. The South East Regional Strategy is currently undergoing an Examination in Public.
	English Partnerships works in partnership with the relevant local authority to deliver schemes in accordance with local development frameworks. The only current English Partnerships project in the Milton Keynes Unitary Authority Area to the east of the Ml is on Renny Lodge, a former hospital site in Newport Pagnall where construction of 68 homes are under way.

Housing: Waiting Lists

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the change is in the number of households on council waiting lists for social housing since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 5 February 2007
	The number of households on the waiting list for social housing in England, as at 1 April 2006 was 1,634,300 compared with 1,021,700 at 1 April 1997.
	Local authorities (LAs) in England report the numbers of households on their housing waiting list as at 1 April in their annual Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix returns. Where the local authority maintains a common waiting list with Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) in their district, the list will also include households placed on the list by RSLs.
	Not everyone on the waiting list is necessarily in urgent housing need. The waiting list includes those who consider social housing as their preferred or one of a number of housing options, and those who decide to get onto the waiting list ladder before they need or want to move houseparticularly where the priority system is heavily based on waiting time.

Land and Property Gazeteers

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  how much local authorities have spent on  (a) creating and  (b) maintaining the National Land and Property Gazeteer in the last two years;
	(2)  how much local authorities have saved due to efficiencies resulting from their local land and property gazetteers;
	(3)  what estimate she has made of the number of separate address datasets maintained across  (a) central and  (b) local government;
	(4)  whether the National Land and Property Gazeteer is available for central government use;
	(5)  what assessment she has made of the savings which might result from the use of a single master address dataset across central and local government.

Angela Smith: The National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) is the responsibility of the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA). Any questions regarding it, such as cost of creation, maintenance or its licensing arrangements should therefore be directed to the IDeA.
	We do not specifically collect information on efficiencies resulting from local authorities' local land and property gazetteers
	We have not made an estimate of the number of separate address datasets across central and local government.
	The Department has not made an assessment of what savings might result from a single master address dataset.

Local Government

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities have officially indicated their intention to explore seeking unitary status following the publication of the Local Government White Paper.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the statement that I made to the House on 30 January 2007,  Official Report, column 7WS, for the list of local authorities that have submitted proposals for unitary status in response to the invitation that we issued on 26 October 2006.

Local Government Finance

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the total additional rental income each local authority will receive up to 2011 on the basis of rent outstanding.

Phil Woolas: Local authorities are responsible for setting their own rents and typically do so after the annual Housing Revenue Account Subsidy Determination has been issued each December; consequently we cannot predict their individual decisions, which will be taken according to local factors, existing stock levels and status and the data available to them in each annual determination and so do not estimate what actual rents may total between now and 2011.
	Communities and Local Government keeps no record of what unpaid, additional, outstanding rent may be owed to local authorities to 2011.

Milton Keynes Tariff

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much money has been raised via the Milton Keynes tariff since its inception.

Yvette Cooper: The Milton Keynes prospectus, commonly known as the tariff is a planning obligation, under the Town and Country Planning Act and covers part of Milton Keynes. The final agreement has not been signed by all concerned parties, but a site specific planning obligation, which feeds into the tariff has been completed. The tariff has raised 39,493,897 from the following sources:
	Government forward funding of infrastructure before development takes place, via English Partnerships - 30,402,236
	Private sector planning obligation in-kind contributions - 8,170,000
	Planning obligation funding - 921,661.

Milton Keynes Tariff

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what projects have been funded by resources raised by the Milton Keynes tariff to date, broken down by  (a) project and  (b) value.

Yvette Cooper: The Milton Keynes prospectus, commonly known as the tariff is a planning obligation, under of the Town and Country Planning Act. The final agreement has not been signed by all concerned parties. The Milton Keynes Partnership Committee's Business Plan (2006) does set out the range of projects and schemes that the tariff is intended to fund. The following projects have been approved to receive the funding:
	Transport Improvement Abbey Hill (A5) Preliminary Work - 175,000
	Transport Improvement H7 Bridge Preliminary Work - 221,000
	Transport Improvement A421 dualling (partial) - 6,690,000 of in-kind private sector contributions
	Transport Improvement - Junction 13 Interim works - 1,480,000, of in-kind private sector contributions
	Transport Improvement -Kingston Roundabout Preliminary Work - 246,000
	Transport Improvement - Ml Junction 14/Northfield - 3,072,254 plus 8,400,000 from the Community Infrastructure Fund
	Transport Improvement road junction Pineham and FoxMilne - 5,618,855 plus 2,500,000 from the Growth Area Fund
	Transport Improvement - A5 Portway/North Grafton - 1,943,515 plus 2,915,273 from Central Milton Keynes planning obligations.
	Empowering the Voluntary Sector - Community Foundation Projects - 965,000

Minorities

Daniel Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which minority groups are recognised by her Department under the terms of the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

Phil Woolas: The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities does not define the term national minority nor is national minority a legally defined term in the United Kingdom.
	The Government therefore ratified the Framework Convention on the understanding that its principles should apply to members of racial groups as set out in the Race Relations Act 1976. Section 3(1) of that Act defines a racial group as:
	a group of persons defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins.

New Build: Flats

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of new build domestic properties in England were flats in each year since 1997.

Yvette Cooper: Estimates on the percentage of new build dwellings that were flats are in the following table.
	
		
			  Table 251 Housebuilding: permanent dwellings completed, by house and flat, number of bedroom and tenure( 1) 
			  Financial year   1991-92  1992-93  1993-94  1994-95  1995-96  1996-97  1997-98 
			  Private enterprise houses 
			  1 bedroom 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 
			  2 bedrooms 22 23 23 22 21 19 17 
			  3 bedrooms 30 33 34 35 35 37 38 
			  4 or more bedrooms 23 22 24 26 27 30 32 
			  All 79 81 84 86 85 87 88 
			 Flats 1 bedroom 11 10 8 7 7 5 5 
			  2 bedrooms 9 8 7 7 8 7 7 
			  3 bedrooms 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			  4 or more bedrooms
			  All 21 19 16 14 15 13 12 
			 Houses and flats 1 bedroom 15 13 11 9 8 6 5 
			  2 bedrooms 31 31 30 29 28 26 24 
			  3 bedrooms 31 33 35 36 36 37 38 
			  4 or more bedrooms 23 22 24 26 28 31 32 
			  All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			  Registered social landlords 
			 Houses 1 bedroom 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 
			  2 bedrooms 21 26 32 32 34 31 31 
			  3 bedrooms 17 22 27 30 30 31 32 
			  4 or more bedrooms 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 
			  All 44 54 65 69 71 68 71 
			 Flats 1 bedroom 35 31 22 18 17 18 17 
			  2 bedrooms 19 13 13 12 11 13 11 
			  3 bedrooms 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			  4 or more bedrooms   1 
			  All 56 46 35 31 29 32 29 
			 Houses and flats 1 bedroom 39 34 25 21 20 21 19 
			  2 bedrooms 41 40 45 45 45 44 42 
			  3 bedrooms 18 23 28 30 31 32 33 
			  4 or more bedrooms 2 3 3 4 4 4 6 
			  All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			  All tenures 
			 Houses 1 bedroom 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 
			  2 bedrooms 22 24 25 24 24 21 19 
			  3 bedrooms 28 31 33 34 34 36 37 
			  4 or more bedrooms 20 18 19 21 23 26 28 
			  All 74 76 80 82 82 84 85 
			 Flats 1 bedroom 15 14 11 9 9 7 6 
			  2 bedrooms 10 9 8 8 8 8 7 
			  3 bedrooms 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			  4 or more bedrooms
			  All 26 24 20 18 18 16 15 
			 Houses and flats 1 bedroom 19 17 14 12 11 8 7 
			  2 bedrooms 32 33 33 32 32 29 27 
			  3 bedrooms 29 31 33 34 35 36 38 
			  4 or more bedrooms 20 19 19 22 23 26 28 
			  All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
		
	
	
		
			  Financial year   1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05 
			  Private enterprise houses 
			  1 bedroom 1 1 1 
			  2 bedrooms 15 14 13 9 9 8 7 
			  3 bedrooms 36 35 33 30 29 28 28 
			  4 or more bedrooms 34 35 36 39 36 31 25 
			  All 86 85 83 78 74 67 60 
			 Flats 1 bedroom 4 4 4 6 5 7 9 
			  2 bedrooms 8 10 12 15 19 24 30 
			  3 bedrooms 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			  4 or more bedrooms
			  All 14 15 17 22 26 33 40 
			 Houses and flats 1 bedroom 5 5 5 6 6 8 9 
			  2 bedrooms 24 24 24 24 28 32 37 
			  3 bedrooms 37 36 35 31 30 29 29 
			  4 or more bedrooms 35 35 36 39 36 32 25 
			  All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			  Registered social landlords 
			 Houses 1 bedroom 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 
			  2 bedrooms 31 32 29 29 24 23 19 
			  3 bedrooms 32 30 27 28 27 24 22 
			  4 or more bedrooms 5 4 4 5 8 6 5 
			  All 71 71 63 64 62 54 47 
			 Flats 1 bedroom 15 15 17 15 14 13 17 
			  2 bedrooms 13 12 17 20 22 31 34 
			  3 bedrooms 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 
			  4 or more bedrooms 1 1 2 
			  All 29 29 37 36 39 46 53 
			 Houses and flats 1 bedroom 18 20 19 17 17 14 18 
			  2 bedrooms 44 44 46 49 45 54 52 
			  3 bedrooms 33 32 30 28 29 25 24 
			  4 or more bedrooms 5 5 5 5 9 7 6 
			  All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			  All tenures 
			 Houses 1 bedroom 1 1 1  1   
			  2 bedrooms 18 17 15 11 10 9 8 
			  3 bedrooms 35 34 32 28 29 28 27 
			  4 or more bedrooms 30 31 32 37 34 30 23 
			  All 84 83 80 77 73 66 59 
			 Flats 1 bedroom 6 6 6 6 6 8 10 
			  2 bedrooms 9 10 12 15 19 24 30 
			  3 bedrooms 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 
			  4 or more bedrooms
			  All 16 17 20 23 27 34 41 
			 Houses and flats 1 bedroom 7 7 7 7 6 8 10 
			  2 bedrooms 27 26 27 25 29 33 38 
			  3 bedrooms 36 35 34 31 30 29 29 
			  4 or more bedrooms 30 32 32 37 34 30 23 
			  All 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 
			 (1 )For detailed definitions of all tenures, see Definitions of housing terms in Housing Statistics home page. (2 )Figures for 2001-02 onwards are based on just NHBC figures, so there is some degree of variability owing to partial coverage. Telephone: 020 7944 4178 E-Mail: housebuilding.statistics@communities.gsi.gov.uk  Sources: P2/P2a returns from local authorities, returns from National Housebuilding Council (NHBC) till 2000-01 Returns from National Housebuilding Council (NHBC) from 2001-02

Planning Delivery Grant

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the total expenditure on Planning Delivery Grant was in each year since its creation; and what expenditure is forecast in future years.

Yvette Cooper: The Planning Delivery Grant (PDG) was introduced in 2003-04, as part of the spending review settlement and was designed to reward local planning authorities (LPAs) across the country on a variety of different performance criteria to enable them to improve all aspects of the service they provide.
	The total expenditure on PDG in 2003-04 was 50 million followed by 130 million in 2004-05, 170 million in 2005-06 and 135 million in 2006-07. A further 120 million will be allocated for the 2007-08 grant period resulting in a total expenditure of 605 million. Communities and Local Government consulted on a new grant to follow PDG: the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG). Representations are currently being considered and potential future expenditure is being considered as part of the current spending review.

Public Bodies

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether consideration has been given to a merger of English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and Development Agencies.

Yvette Cooper: The planned agency, Communities England, will combine English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and key delivery functions from the Department.
	The Review of Sub-National Economic Development and Regeneration is currently looking at how to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of sub-national structures in England, including governance, incentives and powers, in order to strengthen economic growth and deliver regeneration and neighbourhood renewal.

Rough Sleepers

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the number of people sleeping rough in  (a) Northamptonshire,  (b) Wellingborough and  (c) England in each of the last five years; and what projection she has made of the numbers in 2007.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have published an estimate of the number of rough sleepers in England each year since 1998, based on the returns and counts by local authorities. At that time the Prime Minister introduced a target to achieve a two thirds reduction in the numbers of those sleeping rough by 2002 from 1,850. The target was achieved in 2001 and is being sustained. The following table shows the historical data for Wellingborough, Northamptonshire and England based on the submissions by local authorities.
	
		
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Wellingborough 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Northamptonshire 6 7 8 12 11 
			 England 596 504 508 459 502 
		
	
	The Government make no projection of numbers sleeping rough. Local authorities submit the outcome of a count, or their estimate, in their Housing Strategy and Statistical Appendix each year. It is these local authority figures that are published each September in the national rough sleeping estimate.

Section 106 Agreements

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much was raised for community infrastructure projects by section 106 agreements in each local authority in the last period for which figures are available; and what percentage of total capital projects this represented in each such authority.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 2 February 2007
	Information on individual section 106 agreements in England is held by local planning authorities and not collected centrally. The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) (England) Order 2002 (Statutory Instrument 2002 no. 828), which came into effect on 1 July 2002, requires details of planning obligations to be recorded in both Parts I and II of the local planning authority's planning register, which should be available for public reference. Responsibility for s106 agreements in Wales rests with the Welsh Assembly Government. The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2004 (Welsh Statutory Instrument 2004 no. 1434 (W.147)), which came into force on 1 September 2004, similarly requires details of planning obligations to be recorded on Parts I and II of the local planning authority's register.

Section 106 Agreements

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps she has taken to encourage local authorities to make the infrastructural investments agreed under section 106 agreements with developers; and what the total value is of revenues collected under section 106 agreements that have remained unspent over the past five years;
	(2)  what information is collected by the Government offices for the regions on the uses to which local authorities put revenues collected from developers under section 106 agreements.

Yvette Cooper: In May 2006 Communities and Local Government produced guidance for local authorities (in Planning Obligations: Practice Guidance) on ensuring the effective implementation and monitoring of agreements made under section 106. The guidance supports policy in ODPM Circular 5/05. The Planning Advisory Service has also produced and disseminated a good practice case study highlighting the need for effective monitoring and implementation of planning obligations contributions, drawing on the experience of Colchester borough council. Copies of both these documents are available in the House Library
	The Government do not hold information on the total value of revenues collected under s106 agreements that remain unspent. Information on individual section 106 agreements in England is held by local planning authorities and not collected centrally. The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) (England) Order 2002 (Statutory Instrument 2002 No. 828), which came into effect on 1 July 2002, requires details of planning obligations to be recorded in both parts I and II of the local planning authority's planning register, which should be available for public reference. Responsibility for s106 agreements in Wales rests with the Welsh Assembly Government. The Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) (Amendment) (Wales) Order 2004 (Welsh Statutory Instrument 2004 No. 1434 (W.I47)), which came into force on 1 September 2004, similarly requires details of planning obligations to be recorded on parts I and II of the local planning authority's register.

Section 106 Agreements

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will review the appropriateness of the rule that permits developers to be exempt from section 106 agreements in circumstances where they provide fewer than 15 units on a site; and whether she has discussed this rule with the National Housing Federation.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have not set minimum thresholds for the size of development to which section 106 agreements should apply. Circular 05/2005 requires local planning authorities to consider each development on its merits.
	In the case of affordable housing, Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) sets a national indicative minimum site size threshold of 15 dwellings and it makes clear that local planning authorities can set lower minimum thresholds where viable and practical. PPS3 was published in November 2006, following extensive consultation, including with the National Housing Federation.

Social Housing

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to introduce a statutory right to manage for registered social landlord tenants.

Yvette Cooper: We are committed to exploring opportunities for tenants of registered social landlords to become more engaged in housing management. We are currently reviewing the Right to Manage and procedures for setting up Tenant Management Organisations.
	Professor Martin Cave's Review of Social Housing Regulation, which will report in spring, will include broader issues of tenant engagement and participation, including for tenants of registered social landlords.

Social Housing: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average rental price for social housing in Essex was in each of the last 10 years.

Yvette Cooper: Average weekly rent by local authority district and county are published for the local authority sector and the registered social landlord sector on the Communities and Local Government website in Tables 702 and Tables 704 respectively. The links for these tables are as follows and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.
	Table 702: http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/266/Table702_id1156266.xls
	Table 704: http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/268/Table704_id1156268.xls

Translation Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her estimate is of the number of  (a) documents and  (b) pages of material translated into languages other than English by local authorities in each of the last five years; and what the cost of providing such translations was in each year.

Phil Woolas: This information is not available and could be collated only at disproportionate cost. Whilst local authorities are accountable for this spend, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has asked the Commission on Integration and Cohesion to consider this issue as part of its report to be produced in June 2007.

Valuation Office Agency

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 6 December 2006,  Official Report, column 475W, on the Valuation Office Agency, from what data sources the Agency obtained information to assist the application of dwelling house codes for conservatories to domestic properties.

Phil Woolas: Information to apply dwelling house codes for conservatories was taken from the Valuation Office Agency's paper-based records as they were digitised.

Women and Equality Unit: Staffing

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will break down the staffing of the Women and Equality Unit by  (a) sex and  (b) ethnic origin.

Angela Smith: As of 31 January 2007 there are 62 members of staff in the Women and Equality Unit, of which 16 are men and 46 women. 22 per cent. of the total number is from an ethnic minority background.

Women's Refuges

Margaret Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the likely requirement for women's refuge provision and related support services over the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Munn: Each local authority is responsible for assessing the need for housing support services, including women's refuges within their own area, as part of setting their five year strategies for the Supporting People programme. Each year, about 59 million from the Supporting People programme is invested in services for vulnerable people affected by domestic violence. Additionally the Housing Corporation invests in schemes to provide housing for vulnerable people, which meets needs identified in regional and local housing strategies.
	Through capital investment of more than 30 million over three years we have increased the provision of emergency accommodation for people fleeing domestic violence, in England, by 511 bed spaces. Decisions around the provision of emergency refuge accommodation rest with each local authority and this should be based on local needs and priorities.
	We and the Local Government Association have published joint guidance on 'Options for Setting up a sanctuary Scheme' which shows local authorities how to set up effective sanctuaries for victims of domestic violence. The scheme allows the victim (and their children) to remain in their own accommodation, where it is their choice and where it is safe for them to do so.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Loyalist Paramilitary Organisations

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps the Government are taking in respect of the report of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman on police conduct regarding loyalist paramilitary organisations.

Paul Goggins: This very thorough report by the Police Ombudsman identified serious failures of duty by a small number of police officers, over the period 1991 to 2003.
	The Chief Constable has accepted, and is implementing all the report's recommendations, including the reinvestigation of the crimes identified in the report.

Sinn Fein and IRA Special Conference

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what response he has made to the preconditions laid down by the Sinn Fein/IRA special conference of 28 January 2007 before they will declare support for the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland courts and the rule of law.

Peter Hain: The Government welcomes the decision of the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis to support policing and the courts. I believe this removes a final, significant obstacle to devolution.

Victims Commissioner

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the most recent report by the Victims Commissioner.

David Cairns: I welcome Bertha McDougall's report as a detailed and thorough examination of the key issues affecting victims and survivors.
	It provides a good platform for the incoming permanent victim's commissioner to work on.

PSNI: Catholic Recruits

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Catholic recruits from eastern Europe have been recruited into the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: I am advised that currently there are no Roman Catholic recruits from eastern Europe in the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Policing: Sinn Fein Support

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he plans to take to ensure that Sinn Fein's acceptance of policing in Northern Ireland is implemented on the ground.

Paul Goggins: I welcome the decision of the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis to support policing and the courts. I also welcome the comments of the hon. Member for Belfast, West (Mr. Adams) and hope that we will all be able to see the evidence of this policy being borne out on the ground.

Saville Inquiry

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when he expects the final report of the Saville inquiry into Bloody Sunday to be produced.

David Hanson: The publication date is a matter for the inquiry.

Restorative Justice Schemes

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on future funding for restorative justice schemes in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: I refer the hon. Lady to the statement I made in the House on 5 February 2007,  Official Report, column 27WS, announcing the publication of the Protocol for community-based restorative justice schemes.

Devolved Government

Andrew MacKay: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on progress towards devolved government in Northern Ireland.

David Hanson: The Government are working to restore the devolved assembly by 26 March.

On-The-Runs

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether his Department has plans  (a) to introduce additional measures and  (b) to use existing procedure to effect special treatment of on-the-runs.

Peter Hain: In my letter to the hon. Member for North Down of 1 November 2006, I made clear that while the Government continue to accept that the position of on the runs is an anomaly, and we believe that the anomaly will need to be addressed at some stage, we have no plans to bring forward any legislation on on the runs, or to introduce an amnesty. That remains the position.
	All on the run cases continue to be subject to the normal criminal justice process. I refer the hon. Lady to the answer given by my predecessor, the right hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (John Reid) on 1 July 2002, in which he said:
	We are still considering how best to implement the proposals which we and the Irish Government made in relation to this following the Weston Park talks. In the meantime, any inquiries received in relation to individuals wishing to establish whether they are wanted in Northern Ireland in relation to suspected terrorist activities have been communicated to the Attorney General, who has referred them to the prosecuting authorities and the police.
	[Question Reference 69943, 1 July 2002,  Official Report, column 136W].

Planning Applications

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many outline planning applications for single houses have been made in rural areas since the implementation of draft Planning Policy Statement 14 on 16 March 2006.

David Cairns: The number of outline applications for single houses in the countryside deemed valid after 16 March 2006 is 1,172.

Planning Applications

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many outline planning applications for single houses in rural areas in each of the last five years cited  (a) special medical circumstances and consequent disability and  (b) agricultural employment as their reason for application; and how many of those received planning permission.

David Cairns: Figures for applications in each of the last five years where applicants cited special medical circumstances and consequent disability are not readily accessible. However, in relation to applications citing agricultural employment, the figures requested in each of the last five years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Calendar year  Applications received  Applications approved 
			 2002 171 169 
			 2003 134 133 
			 2004 120 120 
			 2005 64 63 
			 2006 15 15

Planning Applications

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many outline planning applications for single houses in rural areas were granted planning approval in each of the last five years.

David Cairns: The number of applications for single houses in rural areas granted approval in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Calendar year  Outline applications approved 
			 2002 4,135 
			 2003 5,119 
			 2004 5,519 
			 2005 6,404 
			 2006 3,726

Procurement Projects

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the 20 largest procurement projects initiated by his Department since May 1997 were; what the  (a) original budget,  (b) cost to date and  (c) consultancy fees were; and what the final cost was of each project which has been completed.

Peter Hain: The following information refers to the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) only. It does not include information for its Agencies, NDPBs or the 11 Departments of the Northern Ireland Administration.
	The question refers to the 20 largest procurement projects, however these are the only procurement projects that have been initiated since 1997. In some cases the information is not available, such as when completed and final cost of each project. There are several IT projects within Public Prosecution Service for which information could be provided only at disproportionate costs as the data are not readily available.
	 Causeway Programme (IT)
	 (a) Original budget: 43,178,105 (27,374.000procurement costs)
	 (b) Cost to date: 23,279,792
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 2,345,947
	 FSNI New Accommodation Project (2004)
	 (a) Original budget: 26,000,000
	 (b) Cost to date: 326,000
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 124,000
	 Regional Office AccommodationBallymena, Omagh and Lisburn (2005)
	 (a) Original budget: 19,889,000 (include all running costs over 15 years)
	 (b) Cost to date: 3,169,345
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 519,740
	Expected completion July 2008
	Final cost estimated 19,889,000
	 Juvenile Justice Centre Project (2003)
	 (a) Original budget: 19.2 million (includes construction contract of 16.8 million)
	 (b) Cost to date: 17.4 million (construction cost as at building handover January 2007)
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 1.5 million
	Not completed yet.
	 Belfast Office Accommodation (2006)
	 (a) Original budget: 9,976,836 (include all running costs over 15 years)
	 (b) Cost to date: 1,407,896
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 115,575
	Expected completion October 2007
	Final cost estimated 9,976,836
	 New Mortuary Project (2004)
	 (a) Original budget: 4,865,000
	 (b) Cost to date: 595,000
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 9,000
	 Flax (IT) (2003)
	 (a) Original budget: 8.5 million
	Final cost8.5 million
	 Employment Checking Project (2007)
	 (a) Original budget: 2,415,000
	 (b) Cost to date: 436,000
	 (c) Consultancy fees: Nil
	CompletionOngoing
	 Oasis Refresh (1999)
	 (a) Original budget: 2.2 million
	Final cost 2.2 million
	 Employment Checking Project (2006)
	 (a) Original budget: 154,000
	 (b) Cost to date: 129,000
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 2,000
	 Initial Review on Way Forward
	 (a) Original budget: Not Known
	 (b) Cost to date: 13,038
	 (c) Consultancy fees: 13,038

Pupils: Intimidation

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of policies in place in schools in Northern Ireland to tackle bullying.

Maria Eagle: Since April 2003 all grant-aided schools have been required to have measures in place to deal with bullying behaviour. The Department of Education has issued guidance to schools on how to deal with bullying behaviour and this has been supplemented by materials and advice issued through the local Anti-Bullying Forum.
	Inspections of pastoral care arrangements in schools include an assessment of anti-bullying measures and if improvements can be made schools are advised at the time.
	A research report on the scale and nature of bullying in schools will be published later this year. That will allow for a comparison with a similar study published in 2002 and the identification of any change.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

English Heritage

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department has spent to date in the recruitment of the new chairman of English Heritage, including  (a) costs incurred directly by her Department and  (b) costs incurred through the employment of recruitment agencies.

Tessa Jowell: To date the costs incurred in relation to the recruitment of the new chairman of English Heritage are 15,693.34. This includes 15,277.34 for advertising in the national press, and 416 for independent assessor costs. Recruitment agencies were not employed.

Football: Homophobia

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the prevalence of homophobic-related incidents at football grounds.

Richard Caborn: Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I has made any assessment of homophobic-related incidents at football grounds.
	The FA has been working with the Premier League and Football League to make the necessary changes to ground regulations so that homophobic chanting is included on the list of ejectable offences from stadiums. I understand that these changes will take effect from the beginning of the 2007-08 season.
	Football clubs are also active in other areas. I understand that clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur FC list a telephone hotline number for fans to report any instances of abuse in their matchday programmes. I welcome measures such as this and hope that all football clubs will follow suit.

Football: Homophobia

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding her Department provides for campaigns to prevent homophobia in football.

Richard Caborn: The Government have not provided funding for any specific projects to prevent homophobia in football.
	However, Sport England has awarded 4 million to the Football Association to support delivery of the Football Whole Sport Plan over the four years 2005-09 and equity in football is one of the themes of this plan. The Equality Standard for Sport, launched in 2004, is being adopted by national governing bodies, including the Football Association. The standard requires NGBs to demonstrate that they are addressing inequalities and making their sports more accessible to under-represented individuals, groups and communities in order to achieve the levels of the standard.
	The FA's achievement of the preliminary level of the Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport is one of the conditions of its Whole Sport Plan award.

Football: Homophobia

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on what occasions she has met the Football Association to discuss action to be taken against homophobia in football.

Richard Caborn: Neither my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State nor I has met the Football Association to discuss tackling homophobia in football.
	However, the Government believe that there is no place for homophobia in football or in wider society and we fully support the campaign being led by the Football Association against homophobic abuse in football in England.
	Through its Football For All programme, the FA is publicly committed to making football inclusive and open to all and to eradicating homophobia in the sport through education, effective reporting structures and communication and awareness training.

Football: Sports Grounds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received on reviewing the regulations relating to standing areas at football grounds; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: My Department has received 88 letters on this issue since August 2006, including 73 from hon. Members and the others from supporters' groups calling for a return to standing terraces or for standing in seated areas. This issue was also raised in a meeting I had with the Football Supporters Federation last year. In addition, I have held meetings with the football authorities. They have made it clear that they have no wish to re-introduce standing areas at grounds in the top two divisions.

Football: Sports Grounds

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will review the regulations governing standing areas at football grounds with a view to allowing standing in certain areas.

Richard Caborn: We look at all new evidence to ensure the legislation covering safety in sports grounds remains relevant and is the best means to ensure spectator safety, including the all-seater requirement. In doing so we consider the advice of the football authorities. They have made it clear they have no wish to re-introduce standing area at grounds in the top two divisions.
	The safety of spectators at football grounds is paramount and we have seen no new evidence to suggest that there is a single more effective way of achieving safety as well as public order than all-seater stadia. We therefore have no plans to amend the legislation at this time.

Gaming Clubs

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many casinos in total there have been in the UK in each quarter since the Budd report in 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Figures are not readily available for casinos operating on a quarterly basis. The following table shows the number of casinos operating in Great Britain as at 31 March for each year since 2000-01 and at the latest available date.
	
		
			  To 31 March  Number of casinos operating 
			 2000-01 118 
			 2001-02 122 
			 2002-03 126 
			 2003-04 131 
			 2004-05 138 
			 2005-06 140 
			 31 January 2007 139

Gaming Clubs

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many casinos have  (a) applied for and  (b) had approved operating licenses from the Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act 1968 since May 2005; how many of these have applied for premises licenses that have been (i) approved, (ii) rejected and (iii) not yet determined, broken down by those with gross gaming yield of (A) up to 5 million, (B) 5 million to 100 million and (C) above 100 million; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Gambling Commission considers applications for certificates of consent for new casinos, or for significant alterations to, or relocations of, existing casinos. Once a certificate of consent is issued, operators can then apply to the licensing magistrates for a casino licence. There is no guarantee that the grant of a certificate of consent will result in a casino licence being granted.
	Since 1 April 2005 the Gambling Commission has received 96 applications for certificates of consent for new casinos (56 in 2005-06 and 40 in 2006-07) and 28 applications for substitute or extended premises (nine in 2005-06 and 19 in 2006-07) under the Gaming Act 1968. During the same period, it has issued 75 certificates (including four where a second certificate was issued for the same premises) in respect of new casinos and 22 for substitute or extended premises.
	A breakdown is not readily available either by gross gaming yield (since such figures are not provided under the 1968 Act until the casino has been operating for some time) or by current status of any licensing application.
	From 28 April 2006, the Gambling Commission could no longer accept applications under the Gaming Act 1968 Act for certificates of consent in respect of new casinos.

Gaming Clubs

Malcolm Moss: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects the order relating to the casino advisory panel's recommendations for the location of the new casinos to come before the House.

Richard Caborn: Section 175(4) of the Gambling Act 2005 requires the Secretary of State to consult Scottish Ministers and the National Assembly for Wales before bringing forward a draft order determining the geographical distribution of the new casino premises licences permitted by the Act. The order will be subject to the affirmative resolution procedure requiring a debate and potentially a vote in both Houses. We will bring forward the draft order at the earliest opportunity.

National Lottery

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public money has been spent for the administration of national lottery good causes under section 29 of the Horse Racing, Betting and Olympic Lottery Act 2004 as  (a) a total and  (b) broken down by (i) staffing, (ii) IT and (iii) other costs; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The administration costs of the Olympic lottery distributor since its inception on 8 July 2005 are provided in the table. These costs are met from the Olympic lottery distribution fund.
	
		
			  Period 8 July 2005 to 2 February 2007 
			
			 Staffing 206,000 
			 IT(1) 0 
			 Other costs 64,000 
			 Total 270,000 
			 (1) In order to keep administrative costs to a minimum, OLD buys in support services such as IT from the Big Lottery Fund with which it shares premises. IT costs were not recharged for financial year 2005-06 as they were negligible. IT costs for financial year 2006-07 are yet to be recharged.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many organisations for which she has responsibility she is proposing to reclassify as a non-departmental public body; how many of these organisations have expressed opposition to such a change in status; and if she will make a statement.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 1 February 2007
	DCMS currently has no plans to reclassify any of the organisations it has responsibility for as a non-departmental public body.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many staff work for the Olympic Lottery Distribution  (a) in total and  (b) as full-time equivalents; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Olympic Lottery Distributor is a small organisation, operating with a core of essential staff. Five members of staff currently work for the distributor representing 4.4 full-time equivalents.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Light Bulbs

Lynne Jones: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what percentage of lightbulbs on the House of Common estate are low energy.

Nick Harvey: It is not possible to calculate the percentage of lamps on the House of Commons estate which are low energy, but it can be said that the majority of the lamps in use are low energy. Parliamentary estate engineers have been proactive in using low-energy lamps for several years and two of the earliest installations in the UK of the Philips QL lamps, which use less than a third of the energy of standard tungsten lamps, were inside the Clock Tower and on the Terrace. This work has continued with the Palace external lanterns and Star Chamber Court, Members Staircase and the Colonnade lights all being converted to QL lamps since then. The Clock Tower external floodlighting and the Lower Secretaries offices, Upper Committee Corridors North and South and 1 Derby Gate lights were all fitted with low-energy lamps during the last two years. There are several types of low-energy lamps currently on trial in the Upper Committee Corridor wall light fittings and comments on them would be most welcome.
	The work of installing low-energy and also long-life lamps as replacements to inefficient tungsten lamps, when cost-effective, is continuing as budgets and access to areas allow. It should be noted that using low-energy lamps, which are usually the fluorescent type, in some light fittings in historic areas of the palace would not be appropriate, for example the chandelier in Central Lobby. Projects for installing more low-energy and long-life lamps and for installing lighting controls are being considered at present and suggestions for areas to investigate would be welcome.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour: Bournemouth

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much additional funding he plans to make available to Bournemouth on the granting of Respect status.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 31 January 2007
	As one of the Respect areas announced on 22 January 2007, Bournemouth has been invited to put forward proposals for up to 125,000 in 2007-08, to improve parenting services for families whose children are at risk of, or involved in, antisocial behaviour.

Antisocial Behaviour: Darlington

Alan Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) parenting orders,  (b) parenting contracts and  (c) antisocial behaviour orders were initiated in the Darlington area in each year since their introduction.

Tony McNulty: Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) report to the Youth Justice Board (YJB) the number of Parenting Orders relating to youth offending or antisocial behaviour by youth offending team area.
	The number of parenting orders relating to crime or antisocial behaviour reported to the YJB by Darlington YOT since recording of parenting orders began in April 2000 until the period April 2005March 2006 (the latest published data) is shown in the following table:
	 Parenting orders in relation to crime or antisocial behaviour reported to the YJB by Darlington YOT:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2000-01 8 
			 2001-02 7 
			 2002-03 7 
			 2003-04 10 
			 2004-05 16 
			 2005-06 10 
		
	
	Since recording began in April 2004 of the number of final warnings with an intervention or relevant court disposal supported by a parenting contract, Darlington YOT has reported no parenting contracts.
	Recording of the number of final warnings with an intervention or relevant court disposal supported by a voluntary parenting intervention, without a parenting contract, also began in April 2004. Darlington YOT reported 50 such voluntary parenting interventions in 2004-05 and 19 in 2005-06.
	The number of antisocial behaviour orders as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service where prohibitions have been imposed in the Darlington borough council local government authority area is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  The number of Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued at all courts, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, where prohibitions have been imposed in the Darlington borough council local government authority area, by age group, from 1 June 2000 ( 1)  to 31 December 2005 (latest available). 
			  Age group  10-17  18+  Total all ages 
			  Period 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2000
			 2001 1  1 
			 2002 1 1 2 
			 2003  1 1 
			 2004 2 3 5 
			 2005  1 1 
			 Total 4 6 10 
			 (1) From 1 April 1999 to 31 May 2000 data were collected on aggregate numbers by police force area only.  Notes: 1. No reports have been received during the period of an ASBO on application being refused by the courts. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Antisocial Behaviour: Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many antisocial behaviour orders were breached in Chorley in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: ASBO breach data are available up to 31 December 2005 and are available at Criminal Justice System (CJS) Area level only.

British Standard 7971

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the usefulness of British Standard 7971 on requirements and test methods for police riot protection; and for what reasons his Department decided to develop other specifications.

John Reid: British Standard 7971 Protective Clothing and Equipment for Use in Violent Situations and in Training was developed as an umbrella and generic set of standards rather than as a police-specific standard. As such, it is intended to cover additional walks of life where violence, confrontation or training might be an issue. Each standard under the umbrella relates to specific equipment. Where the Home Office Scientific Development Branch has published a standard for Protective Equipment an assessment has been made that the Police Operational Requirement is not met by the corresponding element from the generic BS 7971 set. Other elements of the BS 7971 set will be assessed to see whether they meet the POR prior to work being carried out on a police-specific standard

Car Audio Systems

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions were brought in each of the last five years for offences involving excessive noise from car audio systems.

Vernon Coaker: The Office for Criminal Justice Reform collects and publishes centrally police action for noise offences under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986, regs. 54-58, 97-99 combined.
	It is not possible to identify from the data those offences resulting from excessive noise from car audio systems.

Crime and Disorder Reduction

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to publish the Government's evaluation of the effectiveness of crime and disorder reduction partnerships.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office published in January 2006 the findings of a review of Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) which examined the provisions governing the work of CDRPs. While not an evaluation of effectiveness as such, the work sought to identify the conditions required for effective partnership based on the experience of CDRP working since 1998. The review made a number of recommendations, some of which were enacted through the Police and Justice Act 2006, with the remainder being delivered through secondary legislation and other non-statutory routes.
	In addition, the Home Office, the Government Offices and Welsh Assembly Government monitor the performance of every CDRP using the latest crime reduction information available to the Department.

Crime: Railways

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions there have been where CCTV evidence has been used following incidents on the railways in each of the last 10 years.

Tom Harris: I have been asked to reply.
	This information is not held by the Department for Transport but by the British Transport Police who can be contacted at: British Transport Police, 25 Camden Road, London NW1 9LN, e-mail: general. enquiries@btp.pnn.police.uk.

Criminal Convictions Information

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which countries the United Kingdom has bilateral or multilateral agreements on the exchange of criminal convictions information.

John Reid: holding answer 15 January 2007
	The UK has bilateral Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Treaties with Australia, Ukraine, India, Nigeria, Bahrain, Canada, Ecuador, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland, Malaysia, Panama, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, United States of America, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Romania, The Netherlands, Sweden, Bahamas, Barbados, Colombia, Grenada, Guyana, Paraguay, Italy, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Chile, and Mexico.
	The UK is a party to the following multi-lateral agreements which include MLA provisions:
	United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, done at Vienna in 1988
	United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, done at Palermo 2000
	United Nations Convention against Corruption, done at Mexico 2003
	European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, done at Strasbourg in 1959 and the Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters 1978
	Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds of Crime, done at Strasbourg in 1990
	Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union, Brussels, 2000 and Protocol to the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between Member States of the European Union, Brussels, 2001
	Scheme relating to Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters within the Commonwealth (the Harare Scheme) (as amended)
	Mutual legal assistance arrangements between states are less focussed on a systematic exchange of information about convictions than they are on securing details of a particular suspect's (or defendant's) previous convictions for use during a criminal investigation or during criminal proceedings. So mutual legal assistance arrangements will typically only provide for provision of information about convictions or sentences in response to specific requests, not on a systematic basis. Of these only the 1959 Convention includes a requirement for parties to communicate information on certain criminal convictions
	MLA channels may be used to make specific requests for evidence of an individual's criminal convictions for use in specific criminal investigations or proceedings.
	There is also the 2005 EU Council Decision on the exchange of information extracted from the criminal record (which is not an agreement as such) which requires the systematic communication of certain criminal convictions between EU member states.

Dispersal Orders

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many dispersal orders have been issued in each police authority area since April 2006.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 2 February 2007
	Data on dispersal orders for the period requested are not yet available.

Driver Prosecutions

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drivers were prosecuted for offences contrary to sections  (a) 3 and  (b) 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 in Suffolk in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: Available information for the Suffolk police force area and taken from the Court Proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform covering offences under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 from 1997 to 2004 (latest available) are given in the table.
	Offences under section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 cannot be identified separately from other summary motoring offences. 2005 data will be available later this year.
	
		
			  Proceedings at magistrates courts for the offence of driving without due care and attention( 1) , within Suffolk police force area, 1997 to 2004 
			  Number of offences 
			   Total proceedings 
			 1997 668 
			 1998 589 
			 1999 519 
			 2000 537 
			 2001 523 
			 2002 600 
			 2003 540 
			 2004 580 
			 (1) Offence under section 3 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.  Notes: 1. Offences contrary to section 34 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 cannot be identified separately from other summary motoring offences. 2. It is known that for some police force areas, the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. Work is under way to ensure that the magistrates courts' case management system currently being implemented by the Department for Constitutional Affairs reports all motoring offences to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform. This will enable more complete figures to be disseminated. 3. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when these data are used.

Freedom of Information

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what grounds a police force may turn down a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Tony McNulty: The police may turn down a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 under any of the exemptions, other than Section 35.

Harmondsworth Centre

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2007,  Official Report, column 449W, on Harmondsworth Centre, if he will undertake to make public the results of the inquiry.

John Reid: The investigation into the circumstances of the recent disturbance at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre is being carried out by Mr. Robert Whalley CB, a retired senior civil servant. The investigation will establish the lessons to be learnt from this event for the management of the immigration detainees and of the immigration detention estate. It will take full account of the separate police inquiries that are continuing and will be conducted in a way which does not impede any criminal prosecution. Subject to ensuring that any possible criminal prosecutions are not prejudiced, I will arrange for the outcome of the investigation to be available to the House.

Human Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women supported by the Poppy Project over the last three years were first trafficked before they were 18 years; and of those how many entered the UK before they were 18 years.

Vernon Coaker: The Poppy Project does not collate this information.

Licensed Premises: Crimes of Violence

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many violent offences committed in connection with licensed premises there have been in each year since 2002-03, broken down by police force area; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The information is not collected centrally. The Home Office collects statistics on violent crimes recorded by the police but no details are available about the premises on which such offences occur.

PCSOs

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers were employed in  (a) Bexley and  (b) Greater London in each year since their introduction; and how many he expects to be employed in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-9.

Tony McNulty: Data for police community support officer (PCSO) strength by Basic Command Unit area are not collected centrally as part of the police statistics series. These data will be collected centrally from 2006-07 onwards; PCSO strength data as at 31 March 2007 will be available by the end of 2007-08. The most recent figures available (30 September 2006) indicate that there are 2,681 PCSOs in the Metropolitan Police area.

Police

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force in England were allocated specifically to traffic duties in  (a) 1996 and  (b) 2006.

Vernon Coaker: These data are not available for 1996, data for 2006 are given in the table.
	
		
			  Police officers whose primary function is traffic( 1) , by English force as at 31 March 2006( 2)  (FTE)( 3) 
			   Number 
			 Avon and Somerset 215 
			 Bedfordshire 81 
			 Cambridgeshire 99 
			 Cheshire 85 
			 Cleveland 61 
			 Cumbria 111 
			 Derbyshire 119 
			 Devon and Cornwall 215 
			 Dorset 81 
			 Durham 105 
			 Essex 243 
			 Gloucestershire 73 
			 Greater Manchester 342 
			 Hampshire 240 
			 Hertfordshire 149 
			 Humberside 181 
			 Kent 116 
			 Lancashire 197 
			 Leicestershire 77 
			 Lincolnshire 102 
			 London, City of 24 
			 Merseyside 138 
			 Metropolitan Police 603 
			 Norfolk 112 
			 Northamptonshire 63 
			 Northumbria 167 
			 North Yorkshire 97 
			 Nottinghamshire 134 
			 South Yorkshire 141 
			 Staffordshire 28 
			 Suffolk 80 
			 Surrey 99 
			 Sussex 160 
			 Thames Valley 236 
			 Warwickshire 97 
			 West Mercia 116 
			 West Midlands 401 
			 West Yorkshire 343 
			 Wiltshire 13 
			 (1) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables. (2) Data are not available prior to 2002-03. (3) Full-time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Police Grant Settlement

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account has been taken of the impact on crime and policing of the increase in EU migration since 2004 in the Police Grant Settlement for police forces across England and Wales in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 26 January 2007
	The Police Grant Settlement 2007-08 is based on the police funding formula which provides an assessment of the relative need of each police force in England and Wales. This assessment is based on the social characteristics of each police authority, including its population, which are considered to affect the level of demand for police services in the community.

Police: Bournemouth

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much overtime was paid to police officers in the Bournemouth area in 2006.

Tony McNulty: This information is not collected by the Home Office.

Police: Manpower

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many additional police officers were employed in  (a) England and Wales and  (b) North Yorkshire in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The available data, numbers of police officer joiners in English and Welsh police forces and in North Yorkshire police force, are given in the table:
	
		
			  Police officer joiners. North Yorkshire and England and Wales, from 2001-02 to 2005-06( 1)  (FTE( 2) ) 
			   North Yorkshire  England and Wales 
			 2001-02(3) 99 10,215 
			 2002-03(3) 97 13,126 
			 2003-04(4) 128 13,137 
			 2004-05(4) 123 9,908 
			 2005-06(4) 163 8,400 
			 (1) Financial year runs 1 April to 31 March inclusive. (2) Full-Time Equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Not comparable with later years; data includes transfers from other England and Wales forces and officers returning after a period of secondment. (4) Includes transfers from other England and Wales forces but does not include officers returning after a period of secondment.

Police: Manpower

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fully qualified and substantive criminal investigation department officers are employed by each police force; and how many were employed by each in each of the last 10 years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 6 February 2007
	The available data are given in the following table.
	
		
			  Police officers whose primary function( 1)  is criminal investigation department, by force as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2006 (FTE)( 2) 
			   As at 31 March each year: 
			   2003  2004( 3)  2005  2006 
			 Avon and Somerset 333 390 315 368 
			 Bedfordshire 85 124 131 132 
			 Cambridgeshire 157 167 199 198 
			 Cheshire 249 197 244 176 
			 Cleveland 87 206 124 147 
			 Cumbria 112 115 107 108 
			 Derbyshire 177 161 262 242 
			 Devon and Cornwall 370 387 402 439 
			 Dorset 141 158 163 170 
			 Durham 172 156 186 176 
			 Dyfed-Powys 71 83 68 85 
			 Essex 352 368 371 360 
			 Gloucestershire 113 143 154 143 
			 Greater Manchester 761 876 1,032 1,226 
			 Gwent 140 133 132 125 
			 Hampshire 343 346 370 353 
			 Hertfordshire 280 318 293 323 
			 Humberside 178 145 189 379 
			 Kent 390  516 490 
			 Lancashire 394 421 451 438 
			 Leicestershire 158 200 236 214 
			 Lincolnshire 109 111 110 114 
			 London, City of 69 63 85 105 
			 Merseyside 428 423 410 440 
			 Metropolitan Police 3,516 3,831 4,566 3,640 
			 Norfolk 155 164 160 175 
			 Northamptonshire 111 114 263 286 
			 Northumbria 562 653 550 528 
			 North Wales 98 127 111 108 
			 North Yorkshire 136 162 147 123 
			 Nottinghamshire 307 293 287 315 
			 South Wales 436 482 493 484 
			 South Yorkshire 382 417 455 337 
			 Staffordshire 260 301 321 280 
			 Suffolk 142 134 148 150 
			 Surrey 142 152 143 152 
			 Sussex 321 312 302 304 
			 Thames Valley 280 290 315 437 
			 Warwickshire 136 138 168 180 
			 West Mercia 326 289 309 291 
			 West Midlands 825 861 882 1,009 
			 West Yorkshire 578 658 591 578 
			 Wiltshire 118 129 126 139 
			 (1) Staff with multiple responsibilities (or designations) are recorded under their primary role or function. The deployment of police officers is an operational matter for individual chief constables. (2) Full-time equivalent. This figure includes those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Excludes Kent. Data not provided.

Police: Pensions

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average percentage of the operational budget for policing of police forces in England and Wales was spent on police pensions in the last period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The total net revenue budget for the police service in 2006-7 is 10.0 billion. The projected figure for employer's pension contributions is 1.13 billion (11 per cent.).
	Under the new system of pensions financing introduced on 1 April 2006 police authorities now have a separate pensions account out of which retired officers' pensions are paid. Where the cost of pensions in payment exceeds the level of employer and officer contributions paid into the pension account in any year the account is topped up with a grant from central Government; any surplus is recouped. A key benefit of this change is that it takes away from police authorities the responsibility for meeting the rising cost of pensions, as the number of pensioners increases, from the operational budget. Instead, the operational budget now only has to provide for the employer's contributions.

Private Prisons

Neil Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases there were of  (a) doors found to be unlocked and  (b) prisoners (i) absconding and (ii) escaping at each privately run prison in 2005-06.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The information is provided in the table.
	The incident reporting system does not provide a discrete figure for doors found to be unlocked. These are reported within the category for incidents involving locks and keys. The table therefore provides figures for the total number of incidents involving locks or keys within the reporting periods.
	
		
			  Number 
			   1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005  1 January 2006 to 31 December 2006 
			  Prison  Incidents involving locks or keys  Prisoners absconded  Actual prisoners escaped  Incidents involving locks or keys  Prisoners absconded  Actual prisoners escaped 
			 Altcourse 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Ashfield 1 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Bronzefield 3 0 0 4 0 0 
			 Doncaster 0 0 0 4 0 0 
			 Dovegate 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Forest Bank 1 0 1 0 0 1 
			 Lowdham Grange 0 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Pare 3 0 0 2 0 0 
			 Peterborough 6 0 0 16 0 0 
			 Rye Hill 0 0 1 9 0 0 
			 Wolds 0 0 0 1 0 0

Trevor Cross

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the case of the whistleblower Trevor Cross.

John Reid: holding answer 25 January 2007
	Trevor Cross was a temporary member of staff recruited by an employment agency to work in the Disclosure Unit of the Devon and Cornwall constabulary. The termination of his employment is a private matter between Mr. Cross and his employer.
	Mr. Cross raised two principal concerns; that Devon and Cornwall constabulary have downgraded their checks on certain positions which involve applicants working with children and vulnerable adults, and that he has concerns about the accuracy of checks overall because of the Criminal Records Bureau's data capture processes.
	I have been assured by the Devon and Cornwall constabulary that there has been no downgrading or reduction in the consistency of the work conducted by their disclosure unit and that the enhanced checks for the occupations Mr. Cross has referred to are being carried out to the required standard.
	The CRB employs a wide range of measures and quality controls to ensure that the information provided on application forms is correctly captured from the forms and used when checking for any criminal record.

UK-US Extradition Treaty

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish the drafts of the extradition treaty  (a) submitted to the Home Office on 8 February 2002 by the United States and  (b) discussed in London on 12 July 2002.

John Reid: It is not Home Office policy to release the texts of draft treaties as to do so could jeopardise international relations between the UK and the state in question and could also prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs for any future negotiation of bilateral extradition treaties.

UK-US Extradition Treaty

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contributions Ministers made to the drafting of the extradition treaty with the United States between 8 February 2002 and the signing of the treaty.

John Reid: The treaty was negotiated in the same way that all such treaties are negotiated, following procedures laid down in the Ponsonby Rule, which has been in operation since 1924.
	It is not Home Office policy to comment on the negotiation of individual treaties but I can confirm that the final text of the US-UK extradition treaty was approved by the then Home Secretary on 25 March 2003.

Yarl's Wood Detention Centre

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long each child held at Yarl's Wood detention centre has been there.

John Reid: On 30 September 2006 there were 20 minors being held in Yarl's Wood as part of family groups. All the children had been held for fewer than 14 days.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Adventure Activities Licensing Authority

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills who the board members are of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority.

Jim Knight: The board of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority comprises Sir Brooke Boothby (Chair), Mr. John Walsh-Heron (Chief Executive), Mr. Alan Blackshaw QBE and Mr. Ian McMorrin.

Assessments: Languages

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether  (a) GCSE and  (b) A-level examinations are available in (i) Gujarati, (ii) Hindi, (iii) Urdu, (iv) Tamil, (v) Somali, (vi) Farsi, (vii) Cantonese and (viii) Mandarin; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: GCSE and A-level examinations are available for Gujarati, Urdu, Persian (Farsi) and Chinese (Mandarin/Cantonese), but not for Hindi, Tamil or Somali.

Citizenship Education

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in  (a) Leicester and  (b) Leicestershire employ a teacher with (i) a Citizenship PGCE and (ii) other citizenship education or citizenship teaching qualifications.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not available at local authority level.
	The following table provides the number of teachers teaching by subject, including citizenship, in maintained secondary schools in England and the highest post-A-level qualification held in the subject taught. The information is from 2002, the latest available.
	
		
			  Teachers in Service: Full-time teachers in maintained secondary schoolsHighest post-A-level qualifications( 1)  held in the subjects they teach( 2)  to year groups 7-13, England 
			   Percentages  
			   Degree( 3)  BEd  PGCE  Cert Ed  Other Qual.  No Qual.  Total teachers (Thousand) 
			 Mathematics 42 ± 3 15 ± 2 9 ± 2 7 ± 1 2 ± 1 24 ± 2 28.2 
			 English 51 ± 3 15 ± 2 7 ± 1 6 ± 1 1 ± 1 20 ± 2 29.4 
			 
			 Combined/General science 62 ± 3 12 ± 2 10 ± 2 4 ± 1 1 ± 1 11 ± 2 28.3 
			 Biology(4) 71 ± 5 7 ± 3 11 ± 4 3 ± 2 - ± 1 7 ± 3 5.6 
			 Chemistry(4) 72 ± 5 6 ± 3 12 ± 4 1 ± 1 1 ± 1 7 ± 3 5.2 
			 Physics(4) 63 ± 6 11 ± 4 15 ± 4 3 ± 2 - ± - 8 ± 3 4.7 
			 Other sciences(4) 10 ± 6 4 ± 4 5 ± 4 - ± - - ± - 80 ± 8 1.6 
			 
			 French 54 ± 3 7 ± 2 10 ± 2 3 ± 1 2 ± 1 23 ± 3 16.0 
			 German 47 ± 5 6 ± 3 13 ± 4 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 30 ± 5 6.9 
			 Spanish 37 ± 7 8 ± 4 19 ± 6 - ± - 3 ± 2 33 ± 7 3.6 
			 Other modern languages 18 ± 8 - ± - 9 ± 7 - ± - 3 ± 4 71 ±10 1.4 
			 
			 Design and technology(5) 26 ± 3 20 ± 3 7 ± 2 21 ± 3 2 ± 1 24 ± 3 20.9 
			 ICT(5, 6) 13 ± 2 6 ± 1 8 ± 2 2 ± 1 3 ± 1 69 ± 3 18.9 
			 Other/Combined technology(5) 30± 1 0 13 ± 8 16 ± 7 18 ± 9 2 ± 3 20 ± 9 1.6 
			 
			 Business studies 30 ± 5 11 ± 4 9 ± 3 4 ± 2 3 ± 2 43 ± 5 6.5 
			 Classics 33 ± 7 - ± - 2 ± 4 2 ± - - ± - 63 ± 7 1.0 
			 History 57 ± 4 9 ± 2 6 ± 2 6 ± 2 - ± - 23 ± 3 13.7 
			 Religious education 22 ± 3 8 ± 2 8 ± 2 4 ± 1 2 ± 1 57 ± 4 14.2 
			 Geography 53 ± 4 9 ± 2 6 ± 2 5 ± 2 1 ± 1 25 ± 3 13.7 
			 Other social studies 35 ± 5 6 ± 3 2 ± 2 2 ± 1 - ± 1 54 ± 6 4.9 
			 Combined arts/humanities/ social studies 5 ± 3 4 ± 2 7 ± 3 1 ± 1 1 ± 1 83 ± 5 5.3 
			 
			 Music 59 ± 5 15 ± 4 5 ± 2 6 ± 3 2 ± 2 13 ± 4 6.3 
			 Drama 25 ± 4 10 ± 3 12 ± 3 6 ± 2 2 ± 1 45 ± 5 8.1 
			 Art and design 54 ± 4 10 ± 3 7 ± 2 9 ± 3 1 ± 1 20 ± 4 9.3 
			 Physical education 25 ± 3 31 ± 3 6 ± 2 13 ± 2 2 ± 1 22 ± 2 21.4 
			 Careers education 2 ± 2 1 ± 2 3 ± 3 4 ± 4 3 ± 4 87 ± 7 1.5 
			 PSHE(6) 1 ± - 1 ± - 2 ± 1 1 ± - - ± - 95 ± 1 61.4 
			 General studies 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 1 ± 1 - ± 1 - ± - 95 ± 2 7.1 
			 Citizenship 2 ± 1 1 ± 1 2 ± 1 - ± 1 - ± - 94 ± 2 9.0 
			 Other   32.8 
			 
			 Total(2, 7) 33 ± - 10 ±- 7 ± - 5 ± - 1 ± - 44 ± - 388.4 
			 '-' = zero or less than 0.5. (1) Where a teacher has more than one post-A-level qualification in the same subject, the qualification level is determined by the highest level reading from left (Degree) to right (Other Qual.). For example, teachers shown under PGCE have a PGCE but not a degree or BEd in the subject, while those with a PGCE and a degree are shown only under Degree. (2) Teachers are counted once against each subject which they are teaching. (3) Includes higher degrees but excludes BEds. (4) Teachers qualified in combined/general science are treated as qualified to teach biology, chemistry, or physics. Teachers qualified in biology, chemistry or physics are treated as qualified to teach combined/general science. (5) Teachers qualified in other/combined technology are treated as qualified to teach design and technology or information and communication technology. Teachers qualified in design and technology or information and communication technology are treated as qualified to teach other/combined technology. (6) Information and Communication Technology is abbreviated as ICT and Personal Social and Health Education is abbreviated as PSHE. (7) 'Other' not included in total percentages.  Source: Secondary Schools Curriculum and Staffing Survey 2002.

Curriculum: Climate Change

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what  (a) guidance and  (b) resources have been provided by his Department to schools and colleges to enhance the teaching of climate change issues.

Jim Knight: The Department's aim is for all schools in England to be sustainable schools by 2020. In 2006 we consulted on a framework to help schools embed sustainability across all areas of school life including the curriculum. This academic year is a year of action to help schools become sustainable. We are working with partners to develop resources to support the teaching and learning of key issues like climate change such as a pupil 'detective kit' and teacher resource pack. A climate change package including a copy of Al Gore's film 'An Inconvenient Truth' is also being made available to all schools.
	The Department has funded the Met Office Education Service to produce a free CD-Rom to aid the teaching of climate change at GCSE and A-level. This year it will produce poster-based teaching resources on climate change for schools. The Climate Challenge Fund was set up in 2006 by DEFRA to provide financial support for communications projects seeking to achieve positive changes in public attitudes about climate change. A number of the projects will create resources for schools, including an e-learning game, education packs and DVDs.
	All of the above resources will be available to schools and colleges through the Sustainable Schools area of Teachernet at:
	www.teachernet.gov.uk/sustainableschools

Curriculum: Driving

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will consider introducing the teaching of safe driving into the national curriculum; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: holding answer 6 February 2007
	Education about safety is included in the curriculum through the non-statutory framework of personal social and health education (PSHE). In PSHE lessons pupils are taught about rules for, and ways of, keeping safe, to recognise the risks that apply in different situations and then to decide how to behave responsibly. They should be taught to recognise and manage risk, to be aware when pressure from others threatens their personal safety and to develop assertiveness techniques when dealing with unhelpful pressure. Schools may use the issue of safe driving when addressing these learning outcomes.
	The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has been undertaking a review of the secondary national curriculum, including PSHE. The draft programmes of study will be subject to a public consultation from 5 February and views on the inclusion of safe driving can be expressed as part of this consultation.

Curriculum: History

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to reform history teaching in schools.

Jim Knight: At the request of Government, the QCA is carrying out a review of the secondary curriculum to reduce prescription, improve coherence and create further opportunities for schools to meet the needs of their pupils. A formal consultation on the new secondary curriculum will begin on 5 February 2007. Revised programmes of study will be available to schools for planning purposes in September 2007, with implementation beginning in September 2008. In addition QCA has also recently reviewed A-level criteria and is currently reviewing GCSE criteria.

Curriculum: Languages

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in Lord Dearing's review of language teaching; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Lord Dearing published his interim report on 14 December and put it out for consultation until 31 January. He is due to submit his final report to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State at the end of February.

Education: Barnet

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the per pupil funding allocated to Barnet Education Authority  (a) is for 2006-07,  (b) is expected to be for 2007-08 and  (c) was in 1996-97; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: In 2006-07 Barnet local authority received a Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation of 4,081 per pupil and revenue grants of 966 per pupila total of 5,047 per pupil to fund the education of nursery, primary and secondary school aged pupils.
	For 2007-08 Barnet local authority will receive a Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation of 4,344 per pupil. Revenue grant figures are not yet available for 2007-08.
	Figures for 1996-97 are not available on a comparable basis.

Education: North-East Region

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent on  (a) primary and  (b) secondary school education in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside, (iii) the North-East and (iv) England in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The Jarrow constituency comprises schools in both South Tyneside and Gateshead local authority, so the available information provided in the following table applies to the South Tyneside and Gateshead local authorities, the North-East Region and England:
	
		
			  School-based expenditure( 1)  in local authority maintained primary and secondary schools( 2, 3 ) 1997-98 to 2005-06( 4, 5, 6, 7) cash terms figures( 8, 9, 10)  as reported by local authorities as at 31 January 2007 
			   South Tyneside( 10)  Gateshead( 10) 
			   Primary( 2)  Pre-primary and primary( 2, 3)  Secondary  Primary( 2)  Pre-primary and primary( 2, 3)  Secondary 
			 1997-98(4)  23,933,000 20,902,000  29,995,000 27,070,000 
			 1998-99(4)  26,215,000 23,212,000  31,560,000 27,655,000 
			
			 1999-2005(5) 27,558,000 28,383,000 25,027,000 33,957,000 34,335,000 28,547,000 
			 2000-01 30,420,000 31,761,000 28,370,000 38,122,000 38,891,000 33,960,000 
			 2001-02 35,560,000 37,254,000 33,973,000 38,793,000 40,669,000 34,180,000 
			
			 2002-03(6, 7) 34,070,000  33,656,000 40,746,000  38,245,000 
			 2003-04 36,784,000  36,935,000 43,292,000  43,304,000 
			 2004-05 37,531,000  39,765,000 45,000,000  46,612,000 
			 2005-06(8) 39,051,000  42,712,000 48,803,000  49,459,000 
		
	
	
		
			   North-East  England 
			   Primary( 2)  Pre-primary and primary( 2, 3)  Secondary  Primary( 2)  Pre-primary and primary( 2, 3)  Secondary 
			 1997-98(4)  387,380,000 393,033,000  7,277,910,000 5,775,271,000 
			 1998-99(4)  412,727,000 412,503,000  7,834,434,000 6,049,029,000 
			
			 1999-2005(5) 444,482,000 458,999,000 447,885,000 8,602,543,000 8,842,996,000 8,257,736,000 
			 2000-01 483,885,000 502,500,000 496,833,000 9,425,272,000 9,761,443,000 9,093,528,000 
			 2001-02 544,838,000 571,112,000 557,576,000 10,495,632,000 10,918,773,000 10,261,440,000 
			
			 2002-03(6, 7) 537,799,000  569,583,000 10,584,953,000  10,621,927,000 
			 2003-04 572,380,000  631,797,000 11,379,539,000  11,768,559,000 
			 2004-05 596,563,000  672,642,000 11,900,153,000  12,603,303,000 
			 2005-06(8) 638,133,000  718,537,000 12,721,978,000  13,480,547,000 
			 (1) School-based expenditure includes only expenditure incurred directly by the schools. This includes the pay of teachers and school-based support staff, school premises costs, books and equipment, and certain other supplies and services, less any capital items funded from recurrent spending and income from sales, fees and charges and rents and rates. This excludes the central cost of support services such as home to school transport, local authority administration and the financing of capital expenditure which cannot be attributed to a particular phase of education. (2) Expenditure was not distinguished between the pre-primary and primary sectors until the inception of Section 52 for financial year 1999-2000. (3) School-based expenditure in LA maintained nursery schools was not recorded in 2002-03 and comparable figures are not available for 2003-04 onwards. (4) Spending in 1997-98 reflects the transfer of moneys from local government to central Government for the nursery vouchers scheme. These were returned to local government from 1998-99. (5) The 1999-2000 figures reflect the return of grant maintained schools to local authority maintenance. (6) 1999-2000 saw a change in data source when the data collection moved from the RO1 form collected by the ODPM to the Section 52 form from the DfES. 2002-03 saw a further break in the time series following the introduction of Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) to schools and the associated restructuring of the outturn tables. The change in sources is shown by the blank row. (7) The calculation for 2002-03 onwards is broadly similar to the calculation in previous years. However, 2001-02 and earlier years includes all premature retirement compensation (PRC) and Crombie payments, mandatory PRC payments and other indirect employee expenses. Also, for some LAs, expenditure that had previously been attributed to the school sectors was reported within the LA part of the form from 2002-03 and would therefore be excluded, though this is not quantifiable from existing sources. (8) 2005-06 data is subject to change by the local authority. (9) Figures are rounded to the nearest 1,000. (10) Financial data is collected at a local authority level and not at constituency level and consequently figures for the constituency of Yarrow are not available. Yarrow has schools in both South Tyneside LA and Gateshead LA and consequently figures are provided for both.

Educational Attainment

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how each of the coefficients used in the calculation of the 2006 key stage 2 to 4 contextual value added were calculated;
	(2)  what the  (a) value and  (b) upper and lower confidence limit was of each of the underlying coefficients used in the calculation of the 2006 key stage 2 to 4 contextual value added score.

Jim Knight: The coefficients were calculated on the full national dataset of approximately 600,000 pupils reaching the end of Key Stage 4 in 2006, taking account of their KS2 and KS4 attainment together with the individual pupil level characteristics collected in the Annual School Census in January 2006. The coefficient for a particular characteristic shows the average effect of that characteristic on pupil attainment, after taking account of each pupil's prior attainment and all the other characteristics included in the model. The coefficients were derived using the package MLwiN using multi-level modelling techniques. Separate models were calculated for maintained mainstream schools, and for special schools.
	The values and confidence limits of the coefficients for each of the models are as follows:
	
		
			  2006 KS2-4 Maintained Mainstream CVA model 
			   Coefficient  Lower limit on Cl  Upper limit on Cl 
			 Constant 132.315 107.53 157.07 
			 Quadratic of KS2 Average Point Score 0.3876 0.38 0.40 
			 KS2 fine grade average points score -5.523 -6.03 -5.01 
			 KS2english -KS2 average point score fine grades 2.330 2.20 2.46 
			 KS2maths -KS2 average point score fine grades 0.376 0.24 0.51 
			 Does student have FSM? (no) 0.000   
			 Does student have FSM? (yes) -25.122 -25.80 -24.44 
			 Deprivation indicatorIDACI score -65.191 -66.54 -63.84 
			 Has the student ever been in care at this school? (no) 0.000   
			 Has the student ever been in care at this school? (yes) -31.236 -33.73 -28.75 
			 Does student have SENAction Plus? -63.563 -64.35 -62.77 
			 Does student have SENschool action? -37.349 -38.00 -36.70 
			 Pupil joined school after September Yr 10 -75.622 -76.94 -74.30 
			 Pupil joined not in July/August/September yrs 7, 8, 9 -24.226 -25.06 -23.40 
			 Male 0.000   
			 Female 14.569 14.19 14.95 
			 Age within academic year -14.036 -14.64 -13.44 
			 First language: English or believed to be English 0.000   
			 First language: Other or believed to be other (EAL) -12.458 -29.74 4.82 
			 EAL* KS2APS 5.4708 4.06 6.88 
			 EAL* Quadratic of KS2 APS -0.1584 -0.19 -0.13 
			 Is the student White British? 0.000   
			 Is the student White Irish? -1.402 -4.59 1.78 
			 Is the student a White Irish traveller? -45.524 -61.55 -29.49 
			 Is the student White Gypsy/Roma? -58.762 -69.80 -47.72 
			 Is the student White other? 11.061 9.47 12.65 
			 Is the student Mixed White/Black Caribbean? -2.348 -4.52 -0.17 
			 Is the student Mixed White/Black African? 9.408 4.83 13.99 
			 Is the student Mixed White/Asian? 9.266 6.32 12.21 
			 Is the student any other Mixed ethnic group? 5.783 3.52 8.04 
			 Is the student Indian? 24.419 22.73 26.11 
			 Is the student Pakistani? 17.504 15.59 19.41 
			 Is the student Bangladeshi? 23.814 20.84 26.78 
			 Is the student any other Asian ethnic group? 27.163 24.31 30.01 
			 Is the student Black Caribbean? 11.922 10.12 13.72 
			 Is the student Black African? 28.622 26.42 30.82 
			 Is the student any other Black ethnic group? 7.031 3.81 10.26 
			 Is the student Chinese? 34.156 30.64 37.68 
			 Is the student any other ethnic group? 22.169 19.36 24.98 
			 Is the student in an unclassified ethnic group? -9.373 -10.70 -8.05 
			 FSM* White British 0.000   
			 FSM* Irish -3.9217 -11.78 3.94 
			 FSM* Traveller of Irish heritage -32.9276 -58.53 -7.33 
			 FSM* Gypsy/ Roma 27.8899 10.24 45.54 
			 FSM* Any other white background 25.8494 22.12 29.58 
			 FSM* White and Black Caribbean 11.3006 6.87 15.73 
			 FSM* White and Black African 3.7395 -6.08 13.56 
			 FSM* White and Asian 13.2769 5.43 21.13 
			 FSM* Any other mixed background 6.7990 1.70 11.90 
			 FSM* Indian 18.8529 15.07 22.63 
			 FSM* Pakistani 21.0732 18.53 23.61 
			 FSM* Bangladeshi 22.2634 18.51 26.01 
			 FSM* Any other Asian background 24.2656 18.12 30.42 
			 FSM* Caribbean 20.3238 16.71 23.93 
			 FSM* Black African 19.9224 16.39 23.45 
			 FSM* Any other black background 25.8815 19.62 32.14 
			 FSM* Chinese 27.7773 18.41 37.15 
			 FSM* Any other ethnic group 30.6513 25.92 35.38 
			 FSM* Unclassified ethnic group 4.5587 1.01 8.10 
			 KS2 average point score of cohort 2.490 1.81 3.17 
			 KS2 standard deviation in cohort -5.526 -7.32 -3.73 
		
	
	
		
			  2006 KS2-4 Special school CVA model 
			   Coefficient  Lower limit on Cl  Upper limit on Cl 
			 Constant -13.855 21.84 -49.54 
			 Quadratic of KS2 Average Point Score 0.0825 0.17 0.00 
			 KS2 fine grade average points score 2.535 6.17 -1.10 
			 KS2englishKS2 average point score fine grades 0.885 1.60 0.17 
			 KS2mathsKS2 average point score fine grades -1.246 -0.47 -2.03 
			 Does student have FSM? (no) 0   
			 Does student have FSM? (yes) 1.48 3.43 -0.47 
			 Deprivation indicatorIDACI score -1.27 4.03 -6.57 
			 Has the student ever been in care at this school? (no) 0   
			 Has the student ever been in care at this school? (yes) 1.345 4.98 -2.29 
			 Pupil joined school after Sept Yr 10 -24.333 -20.57 -28.09 
			 Pupil joined not in Jul/Aug/Sept yrs 7, 8, 9 -3.523 -1.44 -5.60 
			 Male 0   
			 Female 0.105 2.00 -1.79 
			 Age within academic year -3.804 -0.87 -6.73 
			 First language: English or believed to be English 0   
			 First language: Other or believed to be other 3.563 9.59 -2.47 
			 Is the student White British? 0   
			 Is the student White Irish? 0   
			 Is the student a White Irish traveller? -8.642 -1.58 -15.70 
			 Is the student White Gypsy/Roma? -8.642 -1.58 -15.70 
			 Is the student White other? -8.642 -1.58 -15.70 
			 Is the student Mixed White/Black Caribbean? 0.651 5.35 -4.05 
			 Is the student Mixed White/Black African? -2.97 4.11 -10.05 
			 Is the student Mixed White/Asian? -2.97 4.11 -10.05 
			 Is the student any other Mixed ethnic group? -2.97 4.11 -10.05 
			 Is the student Indian? -6.47 1.17 -14.11 
			 Is the student Pakistani? -8.569 -1.17 -15.96 
			 Is the student Bangladeshi? -8.569 -1.17 -15.96 
			 Is the student any other Asian ethnic group? -6.47 1.17 -14.11 
			 Is the student Black Caribbean? 0.651 5.35 -4.05 
			 Is the student Black African? 0.651 5.35 -4.05 
			 Is the student any other Black ethnic group? 0.651 5.35 -4.05 
			 Is the student Chinese? -6.47 1.17 -14.11 
			 Is the student any other ethnic group? -3.434 2.20 -9.07 
			 Is the student in an unclassified ethnic group? -3.434 2.20 -9.07

Educational Attainment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons the figure given for the percentage of children leaving school with no key stage 4 qualification in England in 2005 in the data set published by his Department on 19 January 2006 is different from that given in the answer of 30 January 2007,  Official Report, column 212W, on educational attainment; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The figure published on 19 January 2006 in the 2005 Secondary School Achievement and Attainment tables for the proportion of pupils achieving at least one pass at GCSE and equivalent is based on revised data and is for pupils at the end of key stage 4 (97.4 per cent.). The figure given on 30 January 2007,  Official Report, column 212W, is based on final data and is for pupils aged 15 (96.4 per cent.).

GCE A-Level: Standards

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students attained at least three As at  (a) AS and  (b) A-level in the years 2004-05 and 2005-06, broken down by school or further education college.

Jim Knight: holding answer 5 February 2007
	The requested figures are in the following table.
	
		
			  Candidates aged 16 to 18 achieving three or more A grades at A and AS-level 
			   GCE/VCE A-level( 1)  GCE/VCE AS-level( 2,3) 
			 2004-05   
			 Schools(4) 20,133 13,390 
			 FE colleges(5) 4,495 4,657 
			
			 2005-06   
			 Schools(4) 22,182 14,083 
			 FE Colleges(5) 5,173 5,064 
			  Notes: 1. A VCE double award at grade AA counts as two A gradesan award at grade AB counts as one. 2. In 2005-06, an Applied GCE AS double award at grade AA counts as two A gradesan award at grade AB counts as one. 3. Excludes candidates achieving an A-level in the same subject in the same year and those who did not cash in their AS-levels. 4. Includes independent schools. 5. Includes sixth form colleges and other FE sector colleges.

GCSEs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of 15-year-olds attending  (a) independent schools and  (b) maintained schools achieved five or more GCSEs at A* to C including  (a) English and mathematics,  (b) English, mathematics and science and  (c) English, mathematics and science and a modern foreign language in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: The information requested can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

GCSEs

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children in each local education authority attained five A*-C GCSEs including  (a) English and mathematics,  (b) English, mathematics and a science,  (c) English, mathematics and a modern language and  (d) English, mathematics, a modern language and a science in each year from 1997 to 2006.

Jim Knight: The information requested can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

GCSE: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of secondary school students in Hendon achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C in  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  GCSE and equivalent results, percentage of pupils in maintained secondary schools 
			   Hendon constituency  Barnet LA  London region  England( 1) 
			  Achieving 5+A*-C 
			 1997 49.4 52.0 40.4 45.1 
			 2006(2) 64.6 65.6 58.3 59.2 
			  
			  Achieving 5+A*-G 
			 1997 88.6 89.6 85.5 86.4 
			 2006(2) 92.5 92.7 91.4 90.5 
			  
			  Any passes 
			 1997 n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 2006(2) 98.0 97.8 97.5 97.8 
			 n/a = not available (1) England figures are based on all schools. (2) Revised data.  Notes: 1. From 2004 includes GCSEs and other equivalent qualifications approved for use pre-16. 2. From 2006 figures are for pupils at the end of Key Stage 4. 
		
	
	As a result of our reforms, GCSE results nationally are at their highest level ever.

Headteachers: Morecambe and Lunesdale

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies for head teachers there are in Morecambe and Lunesdale.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not available at constituency level.
	In Lancashire local authority, which incorporates Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency, there were nine full-time head teacher vacancies in local authority maintained schools in January 2006, the latest information available.

Independent Schools

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what action his Department  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation in relation to the consultation on the Definition of Full-Time Education in Independent Schools; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what informal consultation with stakeholders took place prior to the publication of the consultation document on the Definition of Full-Time Education in Independent Schools; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  why a draft Regulatory Impact Assessment was not attached to the consultation paper on the Definition of Full-Time Education in Independent Schools; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The consultation on the Definition of Full-Time Education in Independent Schools has been undertaken in full adherence with the Cabinet Office's Code of Practice on Consultations. All major stakeholders, identified prior to the consultation, were sent a copy of the consultation on the day it was launched and invited to respond. The consultation is available on the Department's website.
	The consultation will not result in any changes in Primary or Secondary legislation. The establishments which will be required to register as Independent Schools, should the new guidance be implemented, will already be operating and will only incur costs relating to implementing the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003, amended 2004 and the Education (Independent School Inspection Fees and Publication) (England) Regulations 2003. These regulations were subject to a full consultation and Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) prior to their introduction. The RIA is available on the Department's website.

Language Training

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages are employed in each local learning and skills council area.

Phil Hope: The information requested is not collected so a breakdown of ESOL teachers by Learning and Skills Councils area cannot be provided.

National Curriculum: Equality Act 2006

David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the regulations made under Part Three of the Equality Act 2006 will contain provisions exempting the National Curriculum.

Jim Knight: Following the response to the public consultation, the Sexual Orientation Regulations are currently being developed by the Department for Communities and Local Government, and are yet to be finalised.

Primary Education: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary schools in Hendon offer teaching in modern languages; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This information is not held centrally.

Qualifications: Darlington

Alan Milburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils at state schools in Darlington achieved five or more A* to C grades in GCSEs in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Knight: The information can be found in the following table.
	
		
			  GCSE and equivalent achievements in Darlington local authority( 1) ,1996-97 to 2005-06( 2) 
			   Number of 15 year old pupils( 3)  Number of 15 year olds gaining 5+ GCSEs or equivalent at grades A*-C  Percentage of 15 year old pupils gaining 5+ GCSEs or equivalent at grades A*-C 
			 2005-06(4) 1,219 704 57.8 
			 2004-05 1,204 683 56.7 
			 2003-04 1,189 606 51.0 
			 2002-03 1,189 606 51.0 
			 2001-02 1,114 542 48.7 
			 2000-01 1,154 545 47.2 
			 1999-00 1,141 513 45.0 
			 1998-99 1,079 463 42.9 
			 1997-98 1,106 410 37.1 
			 1996-97 1,120 420 37.5 
			 (1 )Local authority figures include pupils in maintained schools only. These figures are adjusted for those recently arrived from overseas. (2 )Including achievements in previous academic years (3 )Number of pupils on roll aged 15 at the start of the academic year. (4 )Figures for 2005-06 are revised, all other figures are final. (5 )Percentages from 1996-97 include GCSEs and GNVQs (6 )Percentages from 2003-04 include GCSEs and other equivalent qualifications approved for use pre-16.

Reading

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to encourage reading among children over the next five years.

Jim Knight: Providing children with the basic skills that allow them to read with fluency and confidence is a crucial first step for them to develop an enthusiasm for reading. Our renewed primary literacy framework draws on the recommendations of Jim Rose's review of the teaching of early reading, and the systematic use of phonics as the prime strategy for the teaching of reading, and will help improve reading levels amongst all pupils. The national roll-out of the Every Child a Reader initiative will help those children who experience difficulties in learning to read.
	We recognise that reading for pleasure is critical to improving children's life chances and we are taking action on several fronts to promote this. This includes providing a range of materials to support teachers, school librarians and others to ensure that schools both provide high-quality teaching and learning in reading, and promote an environment which encourages children's enthusiasm for reading. We encourage schools to develop study support activities which focus on literacy, including reading and book clubs. Our Playing for Success study support centres which open out of school hours use sport as a theme in their reading activities to encourage children to read.
	We continue to work with a number of partners to promote reading in schools and the wider community. This includes working with the National Literacy Trust to run the National Reading Campaign (NRC). Key strands are Reading Connects, which supports schools in building whole-school reading communities; and Reading Champions, which finds and celebrates positive male role models and seeks to change boys' attitudes to reading. A third strand of work, the Family Reading Campaign, launched earlier this year, is working in partnership with key organisations to promote the benefits of reading in the home and show parents and other family members how easily they can support their children.
	Our wider work to help to foster children's enthusiasm for reading includes funding the delivery of the Bookstart programme which encourages parents and carers to read with their children from when they are babies and offers free books to every child and advice to every parent. In addition, the 2006 pre-Budget report announced funding to provide every child making the transition to both primary and secondary schoolincluding all children entering schools in the independent sector, special schools, or any other kind of schoolwith a free book, from autumn 2007.

Road Safety

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make road safety a mandatory part of the national curriculum.

Jim Knight: Currently, there are no plans to make road safety a mandatory part of the national curriculum. Education about safety, including road safety, is already included in the curriculum through the non-statutory framework of Personal Social and Health Education (PSHE). In addition, DfES issued 'Safety Education: Guidance for Schools' in 2001. This references highways as a context for safety education although it is for schools to decide on the content of their safety education programme.
	The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority has been undertaking a review of the secondary National Curriculum, including PSHE. The draft programmes of study will be subject to a public consultation from 5 February and views on the statutory basis of road safety education can be expressed as part of this consultation.

School Libraries

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 23 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1655W, on school libraries, what his estimate is of the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of schools that have libraries.

Jim Knight: The Department does not collect data on numbers of schools with a library.

School Sponsorship

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received from sponsors of charter schools in America about sponsoring  (a) academies and  (b) trust schools in England.

Jim Knight: Officials in the Department for Education and Skills had preliminary discussions with an organisation that sponsors charter schools, on a number of occasions back in 2005. It was keen to sponsor several academies in England but has since decided to withdraw from the proposal.
	Officials in the Department for Education and Skills had an exploratory discussion around trust schools policy with an organisation that sponsors charter schools in September 2006. A follow-up meeting is planned in February.

Schools: Construction

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of bidding costs for projects under Building Schools for the Future.

Jim Knight: Current indications from the market show that it costs around 1.5 million to reach the point where the preferred partner is selected. Private sector costs are not shared with us. The figure cited reflects the discussions we have with Consortia as part of our ongoing engagement with the market.

Schools: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his plans are for future capital expenditure on schools in Coventry; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: It is planned to allocate Coventry schools 12.8 million in 2007-08. Allocations for the spending review period commencing 1 April 2008 will be announced later this year.

Schools: Greater London

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will list the schools designated as  (a) sports hubs and  (b) specialist sports colleges in each London local authority.

Jim Knight: The following tables show the names of  (a) sports hubs and  (b) specialist sports colleges in each London local authority.
	
		
			  Table (a): Sports hubs 
			  School sport partnership name  Host site  Local authority 
			 Barnet South Whitefield School Barnet (LB) 
			 St. James St. James Catholic High School Barnet (LB) 
			 Chislehurst, Sidcup and Hurstmere Hurstmere Foundation School for Boys Bexley (LB) 
			 Kelsey Park Kelsey Park Sports College Bromley (LB) 
			 Priory (Bromley) Priory School Bromley (LB) 
			 Archbishop Lanfranc Archbishop Lanfranc School Croydon (LB) 
			 West London Academy West London Academy Enfield (LB) 
			 Lea Valley Lea Valley High School Enfield (LB) 
			 Eltham Green Eltham Green Specialist Sports College Greenwich (LB) 
			 Hackney Free and Parochial Hackney Free and Parochial CofE College Hackney (LB) 
			 St. Thomas More for Boys St. Thomas More Catholic School Haringey (LB) 
			 Harrow High Harrow High School and Sports College Harrow (LB) 
			 Coopers Company and Coborn Coopers Company and Coborn School Havering (LB) 
			 Emerson Park Emerson Park School Havering (LB) 
			 Feltham Feltham Community College Hounslow (LB) 
			 Islington CEA Holloway School Islington (LIB) 
			 Chessington (Kingston) Chessington Sports College Kingston upon Thames (LB) 
			 London Nautical School/Lambeth London Nautical School Lambeth (LB) 
			 Langdon School Langdon School Newham (LB) 
			 Caterham Caterham High School Redbridge (LB) 
			 Whitton (Richmond) Whitton School and Sports College Richmond Upon Thames (LB) 
			 Harris Girls Harris Girls Academy Southwark (LB) 
			 Langdon Park Langdon Park Community School Tower Hamlets (LB) 
			 Rush Croft Rush Croft School Waltham Forest (LB) 
			 Southfields Ernest Bevin Southfields Community College Wandsworth (LB) 
		
	
	
		
			  Table (b): Specialist sports colleges 
			  School name  LA name 
			 Barking Abbey School Barking and Dagenham 
			 St. James' Catholic High School Barnet 
			 Whitefield School Barnet 
			 Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School Bexley 
			 Erith School Bexley 
			 Hurstmere Foundation School for Boys Bexley 
			 Kelsey Park Sports College Bromley 
			 The Priory School Bromley 
			 The Archbishop Lanfranc School Croydon 
			 Woodcote High School Croydon 
			 Featherstone High School Ealing 
			 Lea Valley High School Enfield 
			 Eltham Green Specialist Sports College Greenwich 
			 Hackney Free and Parochial Church of Hackney 
			 England Secondary School Haringey 
			 St .Thomas More RC School Harrow 
			 Harrow High School and Sports College Havering 
			 Emerson Park School Havering 
			 The Coopers' Company and Coborn School Hounslow 
			 Feltham Community College Hounslow 
			 Isleworth and Syon School for Boys Islington 
			 Holloway School Ealing 
			 Chessington Community College Kingston upon Thames 
			 London Nautical School Lambeth 
			 Cumberland School Newham 
			 Langdon School Newham 
			 Caterham High School Redbridge 
			 Whitton School Richmond upon Thames 
			 Carshalton Boys Sports College Sutton 
			 The John Fisher School Sutton 
			 Langdon Park Community School Tower Hamlets 
			 Rush Croft Sports College Waltham Forest 
			 Ernest Bevin College Wandsworth 
			 Southfields Community College Wandsworth 
			 Charters School Windsor and Maidenhead 
			 St. Martin in the Fields High School for Girls(1) Lambeth 
			 Trinity Catholic High School(1) Redbridge 
			 (1) School has sports as a second specialism

Schools: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether any schools in Hendon were  (a) put into and  (b) taken out of special measures in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: No schools in Hendon have been placed in or removed from special measures in the last 12 months.
	We expect local authorities to take early action to prevent school failure, and prompt and decisive action to tackle it where it occurs. Our ambition is for every school to be a good school providing high-quality education.

Schools: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) school support staff,  (b) teachers and  (c) teaching assistants there are in Hendon schools; how many there were in 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The following table provides the full-time equivalent number of teaching assistants, support staff, and teachers employed in maintained nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units in Hendon constituency, January 1997 and 2006.
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent teaching assistants, support staff( 1)  and teachers in maintained nursery, primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units in Hendon constituency: January 1997 and 2006 
			   1997  2006 
			 Teaching assistants 90 400 
			 Support staff(1) 290 620 
			 Teachers 980 980 
			 (1) Includes teaching assistants, special needs support staff, minority ethnic pupil support staff, secretaries, bursars, other admin/clerical staff, technicians, matrons/nurses/medical staff, child care staff and other education support staff.  Note: Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Annual School Census (ASC)

Schools: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children there were on average in key stage 1 classes in Hendon in  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Maintained primary schools( 1) , average size of key stage one classes taught by one teacher( 2) , position in January each year 1997 and 2006 
			   1997  2006( 3) 
			 Hendon parliamentary constituency 28.0 26.5 
			 Barnet local authority 27.9 27.0 
			 England 26.9 25.6 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Classes as taught during the one selected period in each school on the day of the census in January. (3) Includes reception classes.

Schools: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of children in primary schools in Hendon reached the required standards in  (a) mathematics,  (b) English,  (c) science and  (d) all three subjects in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2006; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The numbers of pupil achieving level 4 or above at key stage 2 are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Percentage of pupils achieving level 4 or above at key stage 2 
			  Subject  Hendon( 1)  England( 1) 
			   1997  2006( 2)  1997  2006( 2) 
			 English 70 82 63 79 
			 Mathematics 69 80 62 76 
			 Science 68 87 69 87 
			 English, mathematics and science 57 74 (3) 74 
			 (1 )Figure for Hendon is based on maintained schools only. England figures relate to all schools including those independent schools taking part in Key Stage 2 tests. (2) 2006 figures are based on revised data (3) Figure is not available 
		
	
	Primary standards as measured by the results from the key stage 2 national curriculum tests in 2006 are at their highest-ever levels. Since 1997 there has been a 16 percentage point increase in the proportion of 11-year-old pupils in England achieving the target level 4 or above in English and a 14 percentage point increase in the proportion achieving the target level 4 or above in mathematics. Through the work of the Primary National Strategy we have enabled around 95,000 more 11-year-olds to master literacy and 83,000 more to master numeracy this year compared with 1997.
	Although we have made significant progress, we are redoubling our efforts to help the one in five 11-year-olds who are still not reaching the standard required of their age in literacy and mathematics. That is why we are renewing our literacy strategy with phonics at the heart of the teaching of reading and renewing our numeracy strategy with more demanding standards of mental arithmetic.

Schools: Hendon

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what financial support for schools in Hendon is being paid direct to head teachers  (a) in 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: Direct payments to head teachers are paid as School Standards Grant (SSG) and School Standards Grant (Personalisation). The grants are paid to local authorities, which must pass the money straight on to schools, calculated on a formula set by the Government. The allocations of SSG and SSG (Personalisation) for each school in Hendon for 2006-07 are set out as follows. Figures for 2007-08 are not available. For England as a whole, SSG and SSG (Personalisation) will rise from 1.232 billion in 2006-07 to 1.557 billion in 2007-08.

Schools: Special Measures

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools in special measures have been in special measures for  (a) more than three terms,  (b) more than six terms and  (c) more than nine terms.

Jim Knight: The following table gives details of the number of schools in special measures for more than three terms.
	
		
			   Less than three terms  More than three terms but less than six terms  More than six terms but less than nine terms  More than nine terms  Total number of schools in special measures 
			 Number of schools in special measures 139 99 1 1 240 
			  Note: These figures have been calculated on the number of schools in special measures (excluding schools that are waiting for the initial judgement to be moderated) at 1 February 2007

Schools: Special Measures

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools left special measures in 2006, broken down by number of terms the school had been in special measures.

Jim Knight: The following table shows how long the schools that came out of special measures in 2006 spent in the Ofsted category.
	
		
			   Fewer than three terms  More than three terms but fewer than six terms  More than six terms but fewer than nine terms  More than nine terms  Total schools coming out of special measures in 2006 
			 Number of schools 19 91 49 2 161 
		
	
	The above figures include schools that closed while in special measures.

Competition Managers

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, column 455, on competition managers, how many of the competitions identified are considered new competitions.

Jim Knight: Further to my answer of 19 January 2007, I can confirm that the 765 competitions delivered were new competitions.

Schools: Standards

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure all schools attain the standards of education set by Ofsted.

Jim Knight: This Government have placed a high priority on investing in schools. This has led to higher standards and Ofsted have recently confirmed this. There are now 604 high-achieving schoolswhere 70 per cent. or more pupils gain five good GCSEsup seven-fold from 83 in 1997.
	The New Relationship with Schools enables schools to drive their own improvement, becoming more accountable and autonomous. Schools, with appropriate challenge and support, determine their improvement priorities.
	The Primary and Secondary National Strategies support and challenge schools by developing and disseminating good practice in teaching and learning through personalisation and intervention (both at pupil and whole-school level).
	Despite a small rise in the number of schools in special measures, the total still remains below 1 per cent. of all schools, and half the number that were in special measures in 1998. The number normally increases at the end of the autumn term when there are more inspections before returning to previous levels in the summer. But we are not complacent and are turning these schools around more quickly. Overall the number of schools failing to get five good GCSEs for a quarter of their pupils has dropped from over 600 in 1997 to 47 today.
	We have raised the bar, so that schools which previously would have avoided attention now find themselves in special measures. We make no apology for this tough stance against failing or coasting schools.
	The Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners: Maintaining Excellent Progress sets out in more detail the Government's progress in delivering our ambitious programme of reform. A copy of this document is available in the House of Commons Library.

Students

Boris Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many part-time  (a) undergraduates and  (b) postgraduates entered higher education in each academic year between 1997-98 and 2006-07, broken down by socioeconomic background.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 25 January 2007
	The latest available information for part-time entrants to undergraduate and postgraduate courses is shown in the table. Information for 2006-07 will be available from January 2008. Information on the socio-economic background of these students is not available.
	The latest figures for acceptances to full-time undergraduate courses from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) show that the percentage of acceptances from lower socio-economic groups has not fallen between 2004-05 and 2006-07.
	From 2007-08, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) will collect data on the parental education of both full-time and part-time entrants to higher education. These data should provide useful information on the socio-economic background of these students.
	
		
			  Number of part-time UK domiciled entrants to higher education institutions( 1)  in England by level of studyacademic years 1997-98 to 2005-06 
			   Level of study 
			   Undergraduates  Postgraduates  Total 
			 1997-98 138,605 70,215 208,815 
			 1998-99 164,885 78,595 243,480 
			 1999-2000 167,250 75,495 242,740 
			 2000-01 181,625 75,090 256,715 
			 2001-02 186,685 74,910 261,595 
			 2002-03 205,450 77,475 282,925 
			 2003-04 209,655 78,625 288,280 
			 2004-05 222,335 78,850 301,185 
			 2005-06 215,795 78,070 293,865 
			 (1) Including Open University  Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest five, and are based on a snapshot count of students as at 1 December of each year.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

Teachers: Manpower

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) teachers and  (b) support staff there were in schools in each local education authority in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2006.

Jim Knight: The following table provides the number of full-time equivalent teachers and support staff employed in local authority maintained schools by local authority for January 1997 and 2006.
	
		
			  Full-time equivalent regular teachers (excluding occasionals) and support staff( 1)  in the local authority( 2,3)  maintained sector by local authority and Government Office Region in England: January 1997 and 2006 
			   1997  2006 
			   Teachers  Support Staff( 1)  Teachers  Support Staff( 1) 
			 Gateshead 1,680 370 1,660 880 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 2,120 580 2,160 1,340 
			 North Tyneside 1,650 440 1,750 1,020 
			 South Tyneside 1,370 280 1,410 750 
			 Sunderland 2,660 730 2,690 1,590 
			 Hartlepool 840 210 880 660 
			 Middlesbrough 1,380 400 1,140 890 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 1,300 330 1,340 860 
			 Stockton on Tees 1,650 460 1,780 1,010 
			 Former Durham 4,910 1,230   
			 Darlington   830 530 
			 Durham (post 1 April 1997)   4,300 2,430 
			 Northumberland 2,630 650 2,830 1,660 
			  
			  North East 22,200 5,690 22,800 13,630 
			 Cumbria 4,030 1,150 4,750 2,390 
			 Former Cheshire 8,190 2,280   
			 Cheshire (post 1 April 1998)   5,770 3,170 
			 Halton   1,140 620 
			 Warrington   1,880 1,010 
			 Bolton 2,440 680 2,550 1,780 
			 Bury 1,460 .430 1,590 930 
			 Manchester 3,850 1,240 3,920 2,940 
			 Oldham 2,240 720 2,350 1,590 
			 Rochdale 1,830 510 1,950 1,470 
			 Salford 1,920 720 1,910 1,290 
			 Stockport 2,220 760 2,270 1,370 
			 Tameside 1,830 490 2,020 1,310 
			 Trafford 1,750 420 2,010 950 
			 Wigan 2,760 700 2.800 1,730 
			 Former Lancashire 11,870 3,520   
			 Lancashire (post 1 April 1998)   9,950 6,370 
			 Blackburn with Darwen   1,480 1,120 
			 Blackpool   1,260 850 
			 Knowsley 1,530 500 1,470 1,020 
			 Liverpool 4,340 1,180 4,290 2,470 
			 St Helens 1,590 480 1,570 1,030 
			 Sefton 2,540 750 2,520 1,510 
			 Wirral 2,930 660 3,020 1,750 
			  
			  North West 59,300 17,190 62,500 38,680 
			 Kingston-Upon-Hull, City of 2,080 730 2,260 1,830 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 2,410 810 2,770 1,870 
			 North East Lincolnshire 1,370 450 1,410 1,170 
			 North Lincolnshire 1,290 400 1,390 970 
			 North Yorkshire (post 1 April 1996) 4,580 1,190 5,170 2,870 
			 York 1,290 310 1,370 790 
			 Barnsley 1,620 680 1,790 1,300 
			 Doncaster 2,690 1,040 2,720 1,800 
			 Rotherham 2,360 620 2,500 1,790 
			 Sheffield 3,930 1,180 4,230 2,880 
			 Bradford 4,660 2,080 4,630 4,000 
			 Calderdale 1,770 680 2,020 1,380 
			 Kirklees 3,260 1,140 3,600 2,510 
			 Leeds 5,900 2,570 6,180 4,610 
			 Wakefield 2,670 1,000 2,830 1,910 
			  
			  Yorkshire and the Humber 41,900 14,870 44,900 31,680 
			 Former Derbyshire 7,530 2,360   
			 Derbyshire (post 1 April 1997)   6,270 3,670 
			 Derby   2,110 1,440 
			 Former Leicestershire 7,690 2,600   
			 Leicestershire (post 1 April 1997)   5,350 3,570 
			 Leicester   2,820 2,080 
			 Rutland   260 200 
			 Lincolnshire 5,130 1,700 5,710 3,840 
			 Northamptonshire 5,500 1,870 5,710 4,160 
			 Former Nottinghamshire 7,810 2,420   
			 Nottinghamshire (post 1 April 1998)   6,390 3,720 
			 Nottingham   2,250 1,660 
			  
			  East Midlands 33,700 10,960 36,900 24,340 
			 Former Hereford and Worcester 5,370 1,460   
			 Herefordshire   1,440 830 
			 Worcestershire   4,730 2,820 
			 Former Shropshire 3,330 1,110   
			 Shropshire (post 1 April 1998)   2,240 1,430 
			 Telford and Wrekin   1,370 1,010 
			 Former Staffordshire 8,510 2,680   
			 Staffordshire (post 1 April 1997)   7,140 4,130 
			 Stoke-on-Trent   2,000 1,580 
			 Warwickshire 3,870 1,290 4,380 2,710 
			 Birmingham 9,910 3,380 10,400 7,190 
			 Coventry 2,800 990 2,980 1,960 
			 Dudley 2,690 680 2,890 1,820 
			 Sandwell 2,730 830 2,760 2,020 
			 Solihull 1,850 560 1,980 1,170 
			 Walsall 2,590 830 2,700 1,740 
			 Wolverhampton 2,230 720 2,420 1,570 
			  
			  West Midlands 45,900 14,520 49,400 31,980 
			 Former Cambridgeshire 5,400 2,470   
			 Cambridgeshire (post 1 April 1998)   4,380 3,170 
			 Peterborough   1,680 1,580 
			 Norfolk 5,940 1,900 6,350 4,330 
			 Suffolk 5,330 1,510 5,710 3,460 
			 Former Bedfordshire 4,990 1,760   
			 Bedfordshire (post 1 April 1997)   3,750 2,470 
			 Luton   1,740 1,520 
			 Former Essex 12,580 4,840   
			 Essex (post 1 April 1998)   11,230 7,600 
			 Southend-on-Sea   1,750 1,170 
			 Thurrock   1,280 1,090 
			 Hertfordshire 9,040 3,090 10,180 6,070 
			  
			  East of England 43,300 15,570 48,000 32,440 
			 City of London 20 10 10 10 
			 Camden 1,500 490 1,520 1,050 
			 Greenwich 2,070 730 2,330 1,630 
			 Hackney 1,450 490 1,640 1,160 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 930 390 1,110 770 
			 Islington 1,420 480 1,450 980 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 680 310 700 540 
			 Lambeth 1,710 690 1,740 1,380 
			 Lewisham 1,870 650 1,930 1,390 
			 Southwark 1,750 760 2,040 1.750 
			 Tower Hamlets 2,270 850 2,420 2,000 
			 Wandsworth 1,690 770 1,860 1,510 
			 Westminster 1,140 370 1,240 790 
			 Barking and Dagenham 1,450 540 1,700 960 
			 Barnet 2,770 810 2,830 1,700 
			 Bexley 1,860 510 2,170 1,320 
			 Brent 2,160 600 2,530 1,390 
			 Bromley 2,270 600 2,710 1,400 
			 Croydon 2,620 910 2,790 1,790 
			 Eating 2,230 680 2,350 1,260 
			 Enfield 2,550 730 3,030 1,950 
			 Haringey 1,870 630 2,010 1,470 
			 Harrow 1,580 570 1,640 1,110 
			 Havering 1,870 580 2,160 1,270 
			 Hillingdon 2,000 740 2,390 1,640 
			 Hounslow 2,000 630 2,190 1,230 
			 Kingston upon Thames 1,060 330 1,210 710 
			 Merton 1,210 420 1,270 860 
			 Newham 2,190 700 2.900 2,390 
			 Redbridge 2,100 590 2,650 1,600 
			 Richmond upon Thames 1,070 290 1,100 610 
			 Sutton 1,390 420 1,730 970 
			 Waltham Forest 2,010 740 2,170 1,510 
			  
			  London 56,800 18,980 63,500 42,150 
			 Former Berkshire 6,280 2,190   
			 Bracknell Forest   850 550 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead   1,170 740 
			 West Berkshire   1,540 1,050 
			 Reading   1,050 690 
			 Slough   1,290 960 
			 Wokingham   1,360 870 
			 Former Buckinghamshire 5,370 1,880   
			 Buckinghamshire (post 1 April 1997)   4,280 2,610 
			 Milton Keynes   2,200 1,590 
			 Former East Sussex 5,110 1,780   
			 East Sussex (post 1 April 1997)   3,750 2,790 
			 Brighton and Hove   1,710 1,150 
			 Former Hampshire 11,990 5,280   
			 Hampshire (post 1 April 1997)   9,620 6,150 
			 Portsmouth   1,390 1,170 
			 Southampton   1,680 1,210 
			 Isle of Wight 1,020 410 1,170 900 
			 Former Kent 13,180 4,970   
			 Kent (post 1 April 1998)   12,590 8,790 
			 Medway   2,540 1,780 
			 Oxfordshire 4,270 1,720 4,920 3,380 
			 Surrey 7,220 2,800 7,690 5,240 
			 West Sussex 5,400 1,950 6,250 4,100 
			  
			  South East 59,800 22,980 67,000 45,720 
			 Isles of Scilly 20 10 30 10 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 1,370 410 1,400 860 
			 City of Bristol 2,900 1,110 2,800 1,900 
			 North Somerset 1,450 450 1,570 880 
			 South Gloucestershire 1,970 600 2,230 1,120 
			 Cornwall 3,610 1,600 4,270 3,030 
			 Former Devon 7,700 2,670   
			 Devon (post 1 April 1998)   5,290 3,860 
			 Plymouth   2,140 1,710 
			 Torbay   1,110 840 
			 Former Dorset 4,730 1,430   
			 Dorset (post 1 April 1997)   3,150 2,160 
			 Poole   1,070 740 
			 Bournemouth   1,150 770 
			 Gloucestershire 4,410 1,230 5,070 2,850 
			 Somerset 3,480 1,580 4,010 2,940 
			 Former Wiltshire 4,690 1,630   
			 Wiltshire (post 1 April 1997)   3,680 2,170 
			 Swindon   1,600 1,070 
			  
			  South West 36,300 12,730 40,600 26,920 
			  
			  England 399,200 133,480 435,600 287,530 
			 (1.) Includes teaching assistants, special needs support staff, minority ethnic pupil support staff, secretaries, bursars, other admin/clerical staff, technicians, matrons/nurses/medical staff, child care staff and other education support staff. (2). Figures are for the maintained sector. Teachers in Academies (including those that were previously maintained schools) are not included. (3). The first, second and third phases of local government reorganisation came into effect on 1 April 1996, 1 April 1997 and 1 April 1998 respectively. The new authorities are shown directly below their former parent local authorities.  Note: Totals may not appear equal to the sum of the component parts because of rounding.  Source:  DfES annual survey of teachers in service and teacher vacancies, 618g, teacher numbers and Annual School Census (ASC) for support staff.

Youth Services: Funding

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding he is making available to local authorities to  (a) fund youth centres and  (b) prevent anti-social behaviour.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Government make available funds to local authorities each year to provide youth work activities. It is for the local authority to plan and manage how this funding is deployed for youth work provision, including youth centres. Information is not held centrally on the number of youth centres at local, regional or national level, or the funding allocated to them.
	There are a number of programmes that contribute to local authorities' resources to prevent a range of negative outcomes for young people, including involvement in antisocial behaviour. These include resources to improve behaviour and attendance in schools, to improve activities for children and young people, and to improve support for parents. Actual levels of funding from these resources that specifically targets preventing antisocial behaviour are not identifiable.
	Specific funding from DfES that does explicitly target the prevention of antisocial behaviour includes:
	3.75 million spread over 2006-07 and 2007-08 provided as part of the Respect Action Plan towards practitioner training for Family Intervention Projects.
	10 million over 2006-07 and 2007-08 for Parenting Early Intervention Pathfinders.
	39 million in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 for the Positive Activities for Young People Programme.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps the Government are taking to prevent the Singapore-based MPRL company channelling its new investment in Burma through the British Virgin Islands.

Ian McCartney: We are aware of reports that the Singapore-based Myanmar Petroleum Resources Ltd company has reached a production-sharing agreement with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. If these reports are correct, such an agreement would not be in breach of the EU Common Position on Burma, which bans new investment from EU member states in named Burmese state-owned enterprises. This investment ban does not include the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. The EU Common Position has been extended to all British Overseas Territories.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aid and assistance the British Embassy in Bangkok gives to  (a) Burmese organisations in Thailand and  (b) organisations assisting Burmese refugees.

Ian McCartney: Our embassy in Bangkok does not provide financial assistance to Burmese organisations in Thailand or organisations assisting Burmese refugees. However, the Department for International Development provides a grant of 1.8 million over three years to the Thai-Burma Border Consortium for assistance to Burmese refugees in camps in Northern Thailand.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment the Government have made of whether the human rights situation in Burma is improving or deteriorating.

Ian McCartney: We believe the human rights situation in Burma continues to be grave. Serious human rights abuses continue to be committed, particularly in areas of armed conflict. The Burmese people do not enjoy the most basic of human rights, including the right to the freedom of speech and association, democracy, good governance and the rule of law.

Burma

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she and Ministers in her Department have had with counterparts in  (a) South Africa,  (b) China,  (c) Russia,  (d) Qatar,  (e) Indonesia and  (f) Congo to request that they vote in favour of a resolution on Burma.

Ian McCartney: The UK co-sponsored the UN Security Council Resolution on Burma which was put to a vote on 12 January. Our UN mission in New York worked closely with all UN Security Council members on the resolution. During these discussions, we made clear our reasons for supporting the resolution and urged Partners that they do the same.

China

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what she expects the  (a) cost and  (b) functions of the proposed EU European Centre in Beijing to be.

Geoff Hoon: I understand the European Commission intends to launch a feasibility study in the coming weeks concerning the costs and functions of the European Centre in Beijing. Its broad focus will be to help EU small businesses in China by providing information on the Chinese market and legal advice; training for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and office rental for SMEs seeking to enter the Chinese market. There will also be a helpdesk which will provide advice to European SMEs on intellectual property issues.

China: Human Trafficking

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of the trafficking of Kachin women across the China-Burma border.

Ian McCartney: We are aware of reports written by the Kachin Women's Association Thailand and Christian Solidarity Worldwide on this issue. On 24 January, I met representatives from the Chin and Kachin ethnic groups to discuss human rights violations, including human trafficking. We take every opportunity to raise human rights issues with the regime and remind it of its obligations to adhere to international human rights law.

Embassies: St Davids Day

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British embassies held St. David's Day celebrations in each of the last five years; and how many are planning celebrations for St. David's Day 2007.

Ian McCartney: The information is not held centrally and could be compiled only at disproportionate cost.

Kazakhstan: Hinduism

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to Kazakhstan on the persecution of the Hare Krishna community there; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: Our ambassador to Kazakhstan, Paul Brummell, raised the issue with the Kazakh ambassador in London on 22 November 2006, during President Nazarbaev's visit to the UK, and has raised the issue subsequently with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Astana. On 5 December 2006 Mr Brummell met Mr Amanbek Mukhashov, vice- chairman of the Committee on Religious Affairs and head of the commission set up to examine the issues involving land questions related to the Society of Krishna Consciousness. Mr Brummell emphasised that the demolition of properties in November had provoked considerable concern in the UK, including from hon. Members, human rights organisations and religious groups, including amongst the large Hindu community in the UK. Our consul in Almaty visited the commune in Karasai district on 7 December 2006 to see for himself the result of the authorities' actions. Mr Brummell met again with representatives of the Krishna community in Almaty on 29 January, to be briefed on more recent developments, and our Consul in Almaty attended a meeting on 1 February, organised by the representation of the Organisation on Security and Co-operation in Europe in Kazakhstan, to discuss the case.
	On 5 December 2006 officials from our central Asia section and our human rights group met with other representatives of the Hindu community in the UK, including Gauri Das, President of ISKON-Temple and Arti Patel, Project Co-ordinator for the Hindu Forum of Britain, to discuss the situation and possible next steps.
	In reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesborough, South and East Cleveland (Dr. Kumar) on 6 December 2006 at Prime Minister's Questions, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said the following:
	We have made our concerns clear to the Kazakhstan Government. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that it is important to make sure, whether in Almaty or anywhere else, that people are free to practise their religious faith. I assure him that we will do all we can, on our own behalf and through the non-governmental organisations with which we are co-operating there, to make sure that Hindus who have been discriminated against in that way are properly protected.
	[( Official Report, 6 December 2006; Vol. 454, c. 299).]
	We will continue to follow this case closely and encourage the Kazakh authorities to pursue a fair and peaceful resolution of this issue.

Macedonia: EC Enlargement

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when she expects the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's EU entry talks to start; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: The European Council granted Macedonia candidate status on 16 December 2005 During the UK's presidency of the EU. The date on which Macedonia opens accession negotiations will depend on the pace of its reform efforts, including judicial and police reform and tackling organised crime and corruption.

Overseas Development Assistance

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much spending by her Department was classed as Overseas Development Assistance in each year from 2001 to 2005; and how much is projected for  (a) 2006 and  (b) 2007.

Geoff Hoon: holding answer 18 January 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development gave to her on 30 January,  Official Report, columns 164-66W, which details the Foreign and Commonwealth Office contributions to Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) from 2001-05. We anticipate ODA spend in 2006-07 and 2007-08 to be at least the same level or higher than that in 2005-06, although precise spend will depend on a number of factors, including the project activities supported in those years.

Uganda

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations she has made to the Ugandan authorities in the last three weeks on their refusal to release 19 civilian People's Redemption Army suspects; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 6 February 2007,  Official Report, column 828W to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock).
	In addition, our high commissioner in Kampala, as part of the Partners for Democracy and Governance Group in Kampala, raised our concerns about the continued custody of the 19 People's Redemption Army detainees to Interior Minister Rugunda on 25 January.

Uganda

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether she has made representations to the Ugandan authorities on the recent order by the constitutional courts for the immediate release of 19 civilian members of the People's Redemption Army; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) today (UIN 118309).

Uganda

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the stability of  (a) democracy and  (b) the rule of law in Uganda.

Ian McCartney: I refer the hon. Member to the written answers I gave on 6 February 2007,  Official Report, column 828W to him and my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew).
	My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, was not able to meet with Foreign Minister Kutesa at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, but we continue to raise these issues at a high level with the Government of Uganda. Our high commissioner in Kampala, as part of the Partners for Democracy and Governance Group, raised our concerns about the continued custody of the 19 People's Redemption Army detainees to Interior Minister Rugunda on 25 January.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

EU: Referendum

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what role he will have in the co-ordination of Government policy in preparation for a national referendum on the Treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union.

John Prescott: There is no consensus among member states on the way forward on the Constitutional Treaty. It is too early to talk about the outcome of the current future of Europe discussions, and there is no presumption by the UK Government as to what that outcome might be.
	As part of my international role, I continue to meet ministerial colleagues from other EU countries to discuss issues of mutual concern. Earlier this month, I met the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Romania and Bulgaria to congratulate both countries on their entry to the EU and to discuss areas of common interest.

Public Sector: Procurement

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent steps he has taken to co-ordinate Government policy on increasing the sustainability of public procurement.

John Prescott: The sustainability of public procurement comes within the terms of reference of the Energy and Environment Cabinet Committee, of which I am Deputy Chair. This Committee is responsible for developing the Government's energy and environmental policies, monitoring the impact on sustainable development of the Government's policies, and considering issues of climate change, security of supply and affordability of energy.

Slave Trade

Dawn Butler: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will support the establishment of a one minute silence for those who died as a result of the slave trade.

John Prescott: The Government have not sought to dictate how individuals and groups remember those who suffered and died as a result of the slave trade, and recognise those who fought for its abolition.
	Some organisations and events are planning to include a silence in their activities, others are not. There are no plans at present for a Government-supported silence for those who died as a result of the slave trade.
	With the help of the Advisory Group set up in January 2006 the cultural sector, local authorities and community and faith groups have taken the lead and are organising their own bicentenary events from their own perspective.

Slave Trade

Dawn Butler: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will support the creation of an annual day of commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade.

John Prescott: There are two key dates for commemoration in this bicentenary year: 25 March (the date of the 1807 Act) and 23 August (the UNESCO international day for the remembrance of the slave trade and its abolition). Activities and events will take place around both dates as well as at other times in the year. There have been many calls for an annual memorial day, and we look forward to hearing during 2007 views on what date such a day would best be marked.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster whether preparations are under way to plan to refurbish  (a) the Downing street offices and  (b) the 11 Downing street flat when the current Prime Minister leaves office.

Hilary Armstrong: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather) by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 9 October 2006,  Official Report, column 5W.

Deliberative Forums

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if she will place in the Library copies of the official papers to be given to members of the new deliberative forums.

Patrick McFadden: The papers for the participants at the forthcoming regional Citizens' Forums are currently being prepared by Ipsos MORI. They will be placed in the Library for the reference of Members after the conclusion of the project in early March. Other material on the Government's Policy Review has already been placed in the Library for the reference of Members.

Departmental Buildings

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what payments will be made by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office to the Cabinet Office for the use of the Ripley Building in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Hilary Armstrong: The Deputy Prime Minister's Office is responsible for payments to the Cabinet Office for the use of Ripley Building.

Dorneywood

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what guidance or advice has been issued to the Civil Service on the  (a) use and  (b) availability of Dorneywood for Government meetings and seminars.

Hilary Armstrong: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 25 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1960W.

Ministerial Duties

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many instances there have been under section 5.17 of the Ministerial Code of a Minister in the Cabinet Office having duties removed to avoid a potential conflict of interest since May 1997.

Hilary Armstrong: The Ministerial Code makes clear that information about Ministers' interests is treated in confidence.

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers was originally drafted; and what changes were made in the July 2005 edition.

Hilary Armstrong: The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers was first introduced in 2001. It was revised in July 2005 to take account of recommendations made by the Public Administration Select Committee and the Committee on Standards in Public Life, including clarifying the relationship between special advisers and permanent civil servants and specifying that the role of special advisers is to assist Ministers. Copies of both versions of the Code are in the Library should the hon. Member wish to make a detailed comparison.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Departmental Contracts

John Grogan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which public affairs firms have been given contracts by  (a) his Department and  (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DTI electronic central records do not present information to this degree of granularity, and it would require disproportionate cost to gather it manually.

Employment Protection: Gender Identity

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he plans to introduce general employment protection on the grounds of gender identity in addition to protection for those who seek or who have had gender reassignment surgery.

Meg Munn: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are considering this issue as part of the Discrimination Law Review.

Post Offices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on whom the obligation to ensure convenient access for communities with real special need referred to in section 3.4 of the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network is to be placed.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The obligation to ensure convenient access for communities with real special need referred to in section 3.4 of the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network is to be placed on Post Office Ltd.

Post Offices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what formal role  (a) the Scottish Executive and  (b) Postwatch Scotland have in the consultation on the future of the Post Office network.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Scottish Executive and Postwatch Scotland have no formal role in the national consultation on the future of the Post Office network, but comments from these and any other interested parties are welcome.

Post Offices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network, what the definition is of  (a) urban,  (b) rural and  (c) remote rural areas; and if he will list the post offices classified as remote rural, indicating in which (i) local government area and (ii) county each is located.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 6 February 2007
	In relation to the Post Office Network consultation document, an urban area is defined as a settlement of more than 10,000 inhabitants. A rural area is defined as a settlement of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. There is no departmental definition of a remote area as no access criteria proposals relate solely to 'remote' areas.
	Alongside the Government's proposed national access criteria, is the criterion that 95 per cent. of the population in postcode districts should be within six miles of a post office service. Implicit in this criterion is a safeguard for people in remote areas who might otherwise not have been assured of reasonable accessibility to services under nationally applied criteria alone.

Post Offices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry which post offices in the constituency of Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk are classified as  (a) urban,  (b) rural and  (c) remote rural.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 6 February 2007
	This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Mr. Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Royal Mail

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Shareholder Executive plans to replace the chairman of Royal Mail.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 23 January 2007
	Allan Leighton's term as chairman of Royal Mail runs until 25 March 2008. The Department will consider what action should be taken, in line with OCPA guidelines, to appoint a chairman thereafter.

Sub-Post Offices

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many trials of the proposal to allow sub-post offices to act as collection points for mail order and internet delivery services referred to on page 6 of the consultation document on the future of the Post Office network are  (a) planned and  (b) under way; where they are, or will be, taking place; and how long they will last.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 6 February 2007
	This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd (POL). I have therefore asked Mr. Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.

HEALTH

Agenda for Change

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of NHS staff whose pay has been  (a) frozen and  (b) reduced under the agenda for change; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: From the central data collected on agenda for change assimilation, at the end of March 2006 4.7 per cent. of staff had their pay protected. The protection arrangements under agenda for change, agreed in partnership with the unions, were intended to ensure that no one had their pay reduced on assimilation to the agenda for change pay system.

Asset Disposals

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer given by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) of 8 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 417-18W, 
	(1)  if she will list all fixed asset disposals in her departmental group in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06, broken down by the organisations which disposed of the fixed assets; and what the function or former function was of each fixed asset disposed of;
	(2)  on Government assets, if she will list the fixed assets disposals in her Department group in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06; who each asset disposed of was sold to; what plans she has for the disposal of fixed assets in each of the next five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The information is shown in the tables.
	Over the next five years, the Department will continue to dispose of assets within the retained estate that are surplus to the requirements of the national health service.
	
		
			  Land sales from the Department's retained estate, 2004-05 
			  Property  Purchaser  Previous function 
			 18 Bryon Road, Redditch Mr. and Mrs. K. Taylor Housing 
			 21/23 Coulter Lane, Burntwood S. Darlington Offices 
			 7 Wells Lane Terrace, Cheddleton Privatelink Ltd. Housing 
			 Land at Mickledale Lane, Bilsthorpe Primary Health Investment Properties Ltd. Open land 
			 317 Mansfield Road, Nottingham Corrington Private Day Nursery Offices 
			 Watling Street Clinic, Bishop Auckland New College, Durham Clinic 
			 Land at Burnhill Way, Newton Aycliffe Broseley Homes Open land 
			 Land at Newton Aycliffe Hospital Wimpey Homes Part of hospital 
			 Bus Shelter Poole Hospital, Middlesbrough Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson Part of hospital 
			 Gables and land, Winterton, Sedgefield Durham CC Group Home 
			 7 Springfield Street, Warrington Andrea McKay Associates Offices 
			 113 Coldharbour Road, Sherbourne N. Denison and J. McLoughlin Housing 
			 Holsworthy Ambulance Station and Health Centre Devon CC Ambulance Station and Health Centre 
			 Part Western Hospital, Crediton K. Hotton Part of hospital 
			 Land at Hanham Hall, Hanham South Gloucestershire Council Part of hospital 
			 Waterside Surgery (freehold reversion) Dr. Greaves and Partners Surgery 
			 Land at Lord Mayor Treloar, Alton Dr. Quincey, Dr. Sword, Dr. White and Dr. Over Part of hospital 
			 10 Gunn Street, Reading Property Development and Rental Ltd. Offices 
			 Land at Langney, Eastbourne B. O. Hastings Ltd. Open land 
			 Land at St. Ebba's, Epsom Riding for Disabled Agricultural land 
			 St. Ebba's Cottage, Epsom Rosewell Properties Ltd. Housing 
			 Land at Joyce Green, Dartford Dartford BC Part of hospital 
			 Warley Lodge, Warley J. Brady Housing 
		
	
	
		
			  Land sales from the Department's retained estate 2005-06 
			  Property  Purchaser  Previous function 
			 Land at Princess Royal, Telford Shropshire and Mid-Wales Hospice Land 
			 St. Margaret's, Birmingham Bovis Homes Ltd. Hospital 
			 St. Crispin's Social Club, Northampton St. Crispin's Social Club Social club 
			 Land at Tower's Hospital, Leicester Taylor Woodrow Part of hospital 
			 Land at Warley Woods Crescent L. Traynor Part of hospital 
			 Land at Dry Leys, Peterborough R. Boxall Land 
			 1/3 Nightingale Close, Mulbarton S. and J. Grady Group home 
			 High Royd's, Menston Raven Group Hospital 
			 Killingbeck, Leeds Shepherd Homes Hospital 
			 Land at Neville Drive, Sedgefield Mclnerney Homes Part of hospital 
			 30 Windermere Gardens, Gateshead Newcastle and Whitby Housing Trust Group home 
			 St. Oswald's Hospice, Newcastle St. Oswald's Hospice Hospice 
			 New Lodge, Whittingham Mr. and Mrs. Faulkener Housing 
			 Middleton Hospital, Ilkley Middleton Construction Ltd. Hospital 
			 10 Mayroyd Avenue, Tolworth J. Muscat Housing 
			 47 Gainsborough Road, Epsom J. Muscat Housing 
			 Conolly House, Napsbury Osman Mehmar Ltd. Part of hospital 
			 Colvend, Napsbury P. Allen and S. Munoz Part of hospital 
			 121 Cranleigh Mead, Cranleigh Mrs. Denton-Miller Housing 
			 19 Netherne Lane, Coulsdon J. Muscat Housing 
			 24 Park Road, Maidstone Regis Group (Nationwide) Ltd. Housing 
			 40 Park Road, Maidstone Regis Group (Nationwide) Ltd. Housing 
			 46 Park Road, Maidstone S. and G. Johnson Housing 
			 2 Brambletye Park Road, Redhill J. Muscat Housing 
			 Land at Joyce Green, Dartford Dartford BC Part of hospital 
			 Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Banstead Try Homes Ltd. Hospital 
			 Silverlands, Chertsey Astor Care Ltd. Nurse training 
			 Bungalow, Woodplace Lane, Coulsdon D. Kennedy Housing 
			 Glenside, Bristol University of West of England Nurse training 
			 Merrafield Nursing Home (freehold interest) C. Brien Nursing home 
		
	
	
		
			  Retained estateportfolio transfer to English Partnerships, 2005-06 
			  Property  Previous function 
			 Land at Heath Close, Billericay Open land 
			 Land adjoining Reckett House, Clacton Land 
			 Part Severalls Hospital Site, Colchester Hospital 
			 Turner Village, Colchester Hospital 
			 Land at St. Mary's Axminster Part of Hospital 
			 Cashes Green Hospital, Stroud Hospital 
			 St. Leonards, Ringwood Hospital 
			 Tiverton District Hospital, Tiverton Hospital 
			 Belmont Hospital, Tiverton Hospital 
			 Newfoundland Court, Bristol Offices 
			 Brunel House, Gloucester Offices 
			 Cottages 1 to 5, Herrison Housing 
			 Lower Farm Buildings, Herrison Farm buildings 
			 Sewer Field, Herrison Agricultural land 
			 Hanham Hall, Bristol Hospital 
			 Part Countess of Chester, Chester Hospital 
			 Whittingham, Preston Hospital 
			 Winwick Farm, Warrington Agricultural land 
			 Winwick Social Club, Warrington Social club 
			 Land at Lancaster Moor, Lancaster Hospital 
			 Homelands Hospital, Crook Hospital 
			 Killingworth Stores, Killingworth Storage and land 
			 Maiden Law Hospital, Durham Hospital 
			 Part St. Georges Hospital, Morpeth Hospital 
			 Land at Aycliffe Hospital, Newton Aycliffe Part of hospital 
			 Birney Hill Farm, Ponteland Agricultural land 
			 Stannington Children's Hospital, Stannington Hospital 
			 Ashington General Hospital, Ashington Hospital 
			 Part Shotley Bridge Hospital, Consett Hospital 
			 Tindale Crescent, Bishop Auckland Hospital 
			 Hull Maternity Hospital, Hull Hospital 
			 Land at Seacroft Hospital, Leeds Part of hospital 
			 Part Wharfdale Hospital, Otley Hospital 
			 Land at Springfield, Grimsby Agricultural land 
			 Scartho Hall, Grimsby Offices 
			 Scartho Hallsite opposite, Grimsby Land 
			 Land at Norton Aerodrome, Sheffield Commercial 
			 Lord Mayor Treloar, Alton Hospital 
			 Park Prewett, Basingstoke Hospital 
			 St. Augustines, Chartham Hospital 
			 Land at the Crescent and the Downs, Chartham Land 
			 Mabledon, Dartford Hospital 
			 Alpha House, Droxford Hostel 
			 Part St. Ebbas, Epsom Hospital 
			 Horton Farm, Epsom Agricultural land 
			 Retail Centre site, Horton, Epsom Part of hospital 
			 Part West Park Hospital, Epsom Hospital 
			 Part Coldeast Hospital, Fareham Hospital 
			 Knowle Hospital, Wickham Part of hospital 
			 Land at St. Francis Hospital, Haywards Heath Part of hospital 
			 Leybourne Grange, Maidstone Hospital 
			 Linton Hospital, Maidstone Hospital 
			 Part Milford Hospital, Milford Hospital 
			 Land at Royal Earlswood, Redhill Agricultural land 
			 Land at Hill House, Rye Hospital 
			 Sheppey Hospital, Sheppey Hospital 
			 Part Southlands Hospital, Shoreham Hospital 
			 Hazel Farm, Southampton Part of hospital 
			 Land at St. Johns Hospital, Stone Part of hospital 
			 Part Tatchbury Hospital, Calmore Hospital 
			 Fair Mile Hospital, Cholsey Hospital 
			 Land at Celsea Place, Cholsey Agricultural land 
			 Unit 7 Merlin Court, Aylesbury Offices 
			 Beaumont Villa, Northampton Offices 
			 Coach House, Kingsworthy Offices 
			 Renny Lodge, Newport Pagnell Ambulance station 
			 Stretton Hall Farmland, Oadby Agricultural land 
			 Ashover House, Lincoln Offices 
			 Carey House, Skegness Day centre 
			 Derby City Chest Clinic, Derby Clinic 
			 Barnsley Hall Land, Bromsgrove Part of hospital 
			 Land at the Limes, Himley Agricultural land 
			 Part Lea Castle Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital 
			 Ledbury Cottage Hospital, Ledbury Hospital 
			 Smallwood, Redditch Health centre 
			 Royal ShrewsburySouth Hospital 
			 Land at Chemsley, Solihull Agricultural land 
			 Land at Middlefield, Knowle Part of hospital 
			 Land at Bucknall, Bucknall Part of hospital 
		
	
	
		
			  Sale of vehicles by the Department, 2005-06 
			  Vehicle  Purchaser 
			 KU52 JYJ Arval PHH Ltd. 
			 KX52 RXY Arval PHH Ltd. 
			 FD03 FXC Arval PHH Ltd.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what volume of carbon dioxide is emitted per passenger kilometre by  (a) low cost airlines,  (b) other airlines,  (c) UK buses and  (d) UK mass transit systems.

Gillian Merron: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from aviation are not broken down by low cost and other airlines.
	Data on CO2 emissions per passenger kilometre from aviation, buses and other mass transit systems (rail and tram/light rail) are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Carbon dioxide emissions by mode of transport( 1) 
			  Mode  Grams of CO 2  per passenger km 
			 Airlong haul(2) 112 
			 Airshort haul(2) 148 
			 Bus 95 
			 Rail 36 
			 Tram/light rail(3) 65 
			 (1) Data for air and rail are available in annex 6 of DEFRA's 'Guidelines for Company Reporting on Greenhouse Gas Emissions' (July 2005). (2) 'Long haul' refers to average journeys of 5,000nm and 'short haul' refers to journeys of 500nm. (3) The tram and light rail estimate is an average for the Docklands Light Rail, Croydon Tramlink and Manchester Metrolink.  Source:  AEA Energy and Environment.

Care Homes

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will provide free care home care for the elderly in England.

Ivan Lewis: About 70 per cent, of care home residents aged 65 and over have all or part of their care publicly funded. However, as a universal entitlement, free care-home care is neither affordable nor desirable in the context of finite resources. None of the billions of pounds needed to make care in a care-home free would increase the choice or quality of care homes or support improvements to social care provision.
	Our policy is to focus finite social care resources on measures to increase service users' independence and choice, through things such as direct payments and enabling people to be cared for in their own homes where the overwhelming majority of people want to be.

Care Workers

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the extent to which  (a) adult and  (b) child social care workers have been subjected to physical or verbal abuse in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Ivan Lewis: Neither the Department (for adult services) nor the Department for Education and Skills (for children) keep data on the number of incidents of physical and verbal abuse against social workers. Social workers are employed by local councils, and by service providers in the private and voluntary sectors, and it is for those employers to manage incidence of abuse against their staff.
	The Department's task force on violence and abuse against social workers reported in 2000, and made a number of recommendations for employers, including that they should undertake a service and training needs analysis in this respect, and put into place and implement actions plans where required. The latest data collected by the Commission for Social Care Inspection from local councils for April 2005 indicates that more than 80 per cent. of councils had completed the task force recommendations mostly or in full.

Clear Communication Consultants

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2007,  Official Report, column 461W, on Clear Communications consultants, whether her Department has received any unpaid advice from Clear Communications Ltd.

Ivan Lewis: The information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost, as unremunerated information is not held in such a way that would make it possible to identify such advice separately from other correspondence issues raised.

Clostridium Difficile

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to improve the consistency of  (a) testing and  (b) reporting of cases of  Clostridium difficile under the mandatory surveillance system.

Ivan Lewis: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) collects data for the surveillance of  Clostridium difficile associated disease on behalf of the Department.
	In order to improve the quality and consistency of the data, the HPA published criteria for testing and reporting  Clostridium difficile under the mandatory surveillance scheme. Microbiology laboratories should test diarrhoeal stools from all patients over 65 years who have not been diagnosed in the past four weeks for evidence of  Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea, by testing specimens for  Clostridium difficile toxin using either an immunoassay for both toxin A and toxin B, or a neutralised cell toxicity assay. This requirement was re-emphasised in the professional letter from the Chief Medical Officer, Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Pharmacist and Chief Executive of the national health service in December 2006.
	The data for reporting are taken by trusts for their pathology laboratory information management systems and submitted to the HPA. The criteria for reporting were re-stated in the professional letter.
	Robust pathology systems are in place to ensure effective reporting.
	 Note
	Mandatory surveillance of health care associated infections report 2006, www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/hai/Mand SurvHCAI2006.pdf

Community Hospitals

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which primary care trust areas community hospitals for which bids for capital funding have been received are located; and how much was requested for each community hospital.

Andy Burnham: The Department received bids from seven strategic health authorities for a share of the 750 million capital funding available over the next five years for the community hospitals and services project. The primary care trust (PCTs) areas for which capital funding bids were received, and the amounts requested for each community hospital are listed as follows.
	
		
			  PCT  Community hospital  Amount of capital funding requested ( million) 
			 Lincolnshire PCT Stamford and Rutland community hospital 0.5 
			 Sunderland Teaching PCT Primary care centre in Washington 8.9 
			 Haringey Teaching PCT Hornsey central hospital 7 
			 Rotherham PCT Primary care centre in Rotherham 16 
			 Stoke on Trent PCT Community health centre (Shelton) 9.1 
			 Hampshire PCT Gosport war memorial community hospital 6.1 
			 Bristol PCT South Bristol community hospital 30 
			 South Gloucestershire PCT Yate primary care centre 9 
			 Devon PCT Newton Abbot PFI hospital 1.95

Continence Services

Christopher Fraser: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many incontinence  (a) pads and  (b) pants were supplied by the NHS in each of the last five years; and what steps she is taking to ensure that her Department's guidance Good Practice in Continence Services is fully implemented by NHS trusts;
	(2)  how much was spent by the NHS on incontinence  (a) pads and  (b) pants in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect information on the number of incontinence pads and pants supplied by the national health service, or NHS expenditure on such items. It is for professionals in primary care trusts to commission appropriate services for local people, based on current and anticipated needs, and in consultation with stakeholders. In commissioning these services, professionals are expected to have regard to the recommendations outlined in good practice in continence services.

Correspondence

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many letters to her Department sent from hon. Members during session 2005-06 remain unanswered, broken down by those which are  (a) one,  (b) two,  (c) three,  (d) four and  (e) over six months old.

Ivan Lewis: We received 36,868 letters in the 2005-06 parliamentary session. Of those, one is still to be answered. As at 31 January 2007, this letter is three months old.

Departmental Commercial Director

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 8 January 2007,  Official Report, column 30W, on the Departmental Commercial Director, if she will undertake to write to the hon. Member for Eddisbury with the relevant details when the fifth member of the panel is confirmed.

Ivan Lewis: David Burden will be the fifth member to join the selection panel for the appointment of the Commercial Director General. Mr. Burden is Group Technology Director of the Royal Mail Group plc and a member of the Commercial Advisory Board.

Diabetes

Brooks Newmark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been diagnosed with type  (a) 1 and  (b) 2 diabetes in Braintree, Witham and Halstead Primary Care Trust in each of the last three years.

Ivan Lewis: The information is not available in the requested format.
	The quality and outcomes framework (QOF) data only cover 2004-05 and 2005-06.
	The QOF data for diabetes specifically exclude patients aged less than 17. The figures we have are therefore an under-estimate. The figures do not distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
	In 2004-05 there were 4,407 diabetic patients on the registers of practices participating in QOF in the Witham, Braintree and Halstead Care Trust.
	In 2005-06 there were 4,804 diabetic patients on the registers of practices participating in QOF in the Witham, Braintree and Halstead Care Trust.

Diabetes

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in Bexley were diagnosed with  (a) type 1 and  (b) type 2 diabetes in Bexley in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The information is not available in the requested format.
	The quality and outcomes framework (QOF) data only cover 2004-05 and 2005-06.
	The QOF data for diabetes specifically exclude patients aged less than 17. The figures held are therefore an under-estimate. The figures to not distinguish between type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
	In 2004-05 there were 7,589 diabetic patients on the registers of practices participating in QOF in Bexley Care Trust.
	In 2005-06 there were 8,240 diabetic patients on the registers of practices participating in QOF in Bexley Care Trust.

Disabled: Direct Payments

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many people were in receipt of direct payments in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much was spent in the form of direct payments to people with disabilities in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority.

Ivan Lewis: The number of adults aged 18 and over in receipt of direct payments from councils with social services responsibilities in England is given in the following table for the years 2001-02 to 2005-06.
	
		
			  The number of clients in receipt of direct payments 2001-02 to 2005-06, England 
			  Number of clients in receipt of direct payments 
			   Rounded numbers( 1) 
			 2001-02 6,000 
			 2002-03 10,000 
			 2003-04 15,000 
			 2004-05 24,000 
			 2005-062 37,000 
			  Notes:(1) Data have been rounded to the nearest 1,000 (2) Provisional data.  Source: Information Centre, RAP proforma P2f. 
		
	
	Tables showing the amount spent in the form of direct payments to disabled people in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority, have been placed in the Library.

Health Services: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what checks the English NHS hospitals in which Welsh patients were treated under the Welsh Assembly Government's second offer scheme made as to whether adequate facilities were available in Wales for any follow-up or remedial surgery required; and what steps the hospitals took to discuss each patient's case with their consultants in Wales before operations were undertaken under the scheme.

Andy Burnham: The decision to treat patients under the Welsh Assembly Government's second offer scheme is a local decision for the national health service trust or NHS foundation trust concerned. Each organisation will reach agreement with the NHS Wales about the systems for referral and follow-up care.

Healthcare-related Infections

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what projections her Department has made of the number of cases of  (a) MRSA and  (b) Clostridium difficile likely to arise in each quarter of each of the next two years, broken down by NHS trust; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has not made projections of this kind.

Healthcare-related Infections

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what projection the Department has made of the change in the number of cases of MRSA likely to have occurred by April 2008; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has in place a national target, to halve the rate of meticillin resistant  Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections by March 2008. Reducing rates of MRSA and other healthcare associated infections is one of the four development priorities in the national health service operating framework for 2007-08.

Healthcare-related Infections

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2005,  Official Report, columns 967-98W, on hospital-acquired infection, on what date the study of deaths associated with healthcare-associated infections started; when she expects the main phase of the study to be completed; whether she plans to publish the report relating to the main phase of the study; whether her Department has received the interim report into the pilot phase of the confidential qualitative study; whether she plans to publish the interim report; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The confidential study of deaths following healthcare associated infection started in August 2005. The main phase of the two-year study is expected to be complete by end July 2007.
	The interim end of year one report was submitted to the Department in September 2006 and was published on the Health Protection Agency's (HPA) website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/cdr/archives/2006/cdr5006.pdf.
	A full report will be published after the study is completed.
	 Notes:
	HPA, Office for National Statistics. National Confidential Study of Deaths Following Healthcare Associated Infection and HPA/ONS Data Linkage Study. Year 1 report (1 August 2005 to 31 July 2006).
	London: Health Protection Agency, 2006.
	www.hpa.org.uk/infections/topics_az/mortality/HPA_ONS_first_year_report_MRSA_deaths_study.pdf

HER-2 Testing

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which cancer centres are not fully carrying out prospective HER-2 testing.

Rosie Winterton: As set out in the written ministerial statement of 17 July 2006,  Official Report, column 5WS, 28 out of 34 cancer networks reported that they were HER-2 testing all women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. The remaining six reported that they would be testing all these women by the end of October 2006. These networks have since reported that they are now HER-2 testing all women with early breast cancer.

Hospital Services

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations she has received on  (a) the financial situation and  (b) implications for services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has received no recent representations about the financial situation or implications for services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.

Netcare

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what record of involvement Netcare has in the provision of health services in England.

Andy Burnham: Netcare provides services to national health service patients through the independent sector treatment centre programme. Netcare currently provides the Greater Manchester Surgical Centre and the mobile ophthalmic service.
	Information is not held centrally on services Netcare may provide to the NHS through local arrangements or health services provided in England to private patients.

NHS Continuing Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which strategic health authorities have combined their eligibility criteria for NHS continuing care into a single set following the merger of strategic health authorities on 1 July 2006;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1594W, on National Framework for Continuing Care, which are the issues which need further consideration.

Ivan Lewis: We do not know of any strategic health authorities that have already taken the step of combining their eligibility criteria for national health service continuing care.
	We cannot comment further about specific issues at this stage. All the relevant issues will be set out in the Government's response to the consultation, to be published as soon as the collation and analysis process has been completed.

NHS Pensions

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff work for the successor to the NHS Pensions Agency; and what its budget is for 2006-07.

Rosie Winterton: The NHS Pensions Agency is now a division of the NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA).
	The current baseline 2006-07 revenue budget for the pensions division is 22.3 million. This covers the administration costs and excludes payments made to and from the NHS pensions scheme as well as NHS student bursaries. There is an additional budget of 5 million identified for the pensions modernisation scheme expenditure.
	The current staffing is 335 whole-time equivalents, which are staff employed by the NHS BSA. This excludes those staff employed by the main contractor who provides part of the service.

NHS Services: Cumbria

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the proposed introduction of Clinical Assessment, Treatment and Support Services in Cumbria will lead to more consultants, nurses and doctors working in  (a) West Cumbria and  (b) Cumbria.

Andy Burnham: It is anticipated that the introduction of clinical assessment, treatment and support (CATS) services across Cumbria and Lancashire will lead to an increase in the number of healthcare staff working across the area since additional staff will be required to operate the new services. Detailed work force plans for CATS are still to be developed.

NHS Services: Cumbria

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the introduction of Clinical Assessment, Treatment and Support Services centres in Cumbria on  (a) the review being undertaken by Cumbria Primary Care Trust,  (b) services provided by the West Cumberland Hospital and  (c) proposals for a new acute hospital to replace the West Cumberland Hospital.

Andy Burnham: Health services across Cumbria are currently being reviewed to ensure that local services are sustainable, fit for purpose, effective and affordable. Proposals for a new acute hospital in West Cumbria are being developed in the context of this review. Any proposals emerging from this review will be subject to public consultation in due course.
	The six primary care trusts (PCTs) in Cumbria and Lancashire are currently carrying out public consultation on the details of the local implementation of the clinical assessment, treatment and support (CATS) services in the two counties. The consultation covers the locations of the CATS sites, the impact on the wider health services, how the CATS can fit seamlessly into the pathway from general practitioner referrer through to local hospitals treatment, and whether the clinical specialties proposed (orthopaedics, rheumatology, ear, nose and throat, general surgery, urology and gynaecology) are the most appropriate. The PCTs are also undertaking a locality impact assessment of the CATS scheme. These pieces of work will be considered as part of the Cumbria whole system review.

North East Ambulance Service

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the budget for the North East Ambulance Service  (a) is in 2006-07 and  (b) is expected to be in 2007-08.

Andy Burnham: The information requested, in relation to budgets for national health service trusts, is not available centrally. The Department is able to take total income from the organisations' audited accounts, which can be used as a proxy for budget. However, 2006-07 income figures will not be available until autumn 2007 and 2007-08 data will not be available until autumn of 2008.

Overview and Scrutiny Committees

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the  (a) hospital and  (b) other NHS service closures which were referred to her by Overview and Scrutiny Committees in each month since January 2003; and what the outcome of the referral was in each case.

Andy Burnham: To date there have been 19 referrals by overview and scrutiny committees (OSCs) to the Secretary of State and are as follows:
	 1. Wiltshire OSC: Closure of maternity services at two community hospitals
	Referred: October 2004.
	Outcome: Proposals withdrawn by primary care trust (PCT) in favour of wide-ranging review of community services.
	 2. Hampshire OSC: Configuration of health services in south-east Hampshire
	Referred: January 2005.
	Outcome: Ministerial decision to support local national health service without referral to independent reconfiguration panel (IRP).
	 3. Merton OSC: The choice of location for a new critical care hospital
	Referred: March 2005.
	Outcome: Ministerial decision for new hospital site at St. Helier (not Sutton as local NHS proposed). Secretary of State decision subsequently withdrawn at request of London Strategic Health Authority who are undertaking a review of the proposals.
	 4. South Gloucestershire council: Future location of acute hospital
	Referred: July 2005.
	Outcome: Ministerial decision to support local NHS without referral to IRP.
	 5. Wirral OSC: closure of two wards at Victoria Central hospital, Wirral
	Referred: July 2005.
	Outcome: Ministerial decision to support local NHS without referral to IRP.
	 6. Lincolnshire OSC: Lincolnshire NHS recovery plan
	Referred: July 2005.
	Outcome: Ministerial decision to refer case back to local NHS for it to reach local agreement with OSC.
	 7. Surrey OSC: proposed changes to the provision of services provided by Guildford and Waverley Primary Care Trust
	Referred: October 2005.
	Outcome: Ministers requested IRP involvement to help broker agreement between OSC and local NHS although case was not formerly referred to the IRP.
	 8. Cambridgeshire OSC: proposed variation in mental health services in Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire
	Referred: February 2006.
	Outcome: Support the local NHS without referral to the IRP.
	 9. Suffolk OSC: decision of Suffolk East PCT to close community hospitals, reduce the number of inpatient step down beds, and introduce an intermediate model of care
	Referred: March 2006.
	Outcome: Support the local NHS with the exception of proposals for Hartismere Hospital where Secretary of Secretary requested local NHS develop further the proposals.
	 10. Gloucestershire OSC: decision by Cotswold and Vale Primary Care Trust to close inpatient facilities at Fairford Community Hospital and Tetbury Community Hospital
	Referred: March 2006.
	Outcome: Ministerial decision to support local NHS without referral to the IRP.
	 11. Calderdale and Kirklees Joint OSC: Proposed changes to maternity services in Calderdale and Huddersfield
	Referred: April 2006.
	Outcome: Case referred to the IRP for advice. Ministerial decision to accept IRP's advice and support the local NHS.
	 12. Hertfordshire Health Scrutiny Committee: Proposals for Mental Health and Learning Disability Savings by the Hertfordshire Primary Care Trusts
	Referred: May 2006.
	Outcome: Support the local NHS (proposal to withdraw Early Intervention Services was withdrawn by local NHS) without referral to the IRP.
	 13. Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council Health Select Committee: Review of acute services on Teesside
	Referred: July 2006.
	Outcome: Case referred to the IRP for advice. Secretary of State accepted the IRP's advice which included the recommendation that until the opening of a new hospital, consultant-led maternity and paediatric services should be centralised at the University Hospitals of North Tees, not Hartlepool as proposed by the local NHS.
	 14. Joint OSC representing Durham County, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire County, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees: Review of acute services on Teesside
	Referred: July 2006.
	Outcome: Case referred to the IRP for advice. Secretary of State accepted the IRP's advice which included the recommendation that until the opening of a new hospital, consultant-led maternity and paediatric services should be centralised at the University Hospitals of North Tees, not Hartlepool as proposed by the local NHS.
	 15. Baling Council Health, Housing and Adult Social services Scrutiny Panel: Referral of consultation by the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust on the future of the Nuffield Speech and Language Unit
	Referred: July 2006.
	Outcome: Support the local NHS without referral to the IRP.
	 16. Hartlepool borough council: Review of acute services on Teesside
	Referred: July 2006.
	Outcome: Case referred to the IRP for advice. Secretary of State accepted the IRP's advice which included the recommendation that until the opening of a new hospital, consultant-led maternity and paediatric services should be centralised at the University Hospitals of North Tees, not Hartlepool as proposed by the local NHS.
	 17. Lambeth and Southwark Joint OSC: Proposals to reconfigure local mental health crisis care
	Referred: August 2006.
	Outcome: Support the local NHS without referral to the IRP.
	 18. Suffolk OSC: referral of the decisions of Suffolk West PCT to close community hospitals, remove the provision of inpatient step down beds, and rush the introduction of the intermediate model of care
	Referred: October 2006.
	Outcome: Proposals withdrawn by local NHS.
	 19. Gloucestershire OSC: decision by Gloucestershire Partnership NHS Trust to centralise older people's mental health inpatient services at Charlton Lane, Cheltenham
	Referred: November 2006.
	Outcome: To be confirmed.

Physiotherapists

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the number of physiotherapists expected to graduate in each of the next three years.

Rosie Winterton: It is the responsibility of strategic health authorities and local national health service employers to estimate the number of physiotherapy graduates in their localities over the next three years.

Risk Register

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the purpose is of the high-level risk register maintained by the departmental board and referred to in section 8.6 of her annual report 2006; and how many risks are entered on it.

Ivan Lewis: The purpose of the risk register is to enable the departmental management board to carry out its functions on the basis of a structured analysis of the main risks facing the Department and the health and social care system. It is established good practice for organisations to make themselves aware of the risks and to develop mitigation strategies. It is in line with HM Treasury requirements, as set out in Government Accounting, and Cabinet Office guidance. The risk register is kept under review by the departmental board and scrutinised by the audit committee. The register currently contains 20 risks.

Social Enterprise Pathfinders

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will place in the Library copies of minutes of meetings of strategic health authorities in the East Midlands on social enterprise pathfinder programmes;
	(2)  how many meetings took place between strategic health authorities and the East Midlands Development Agency on determining criteria for social enterprise pathfinder programmes.

Ivan Lewis: There were no formal minutes of meetings held by NHS East Midlands strategic health authority (SHA) to discuss Social Enterprise Pathfinder applications. The SHA convened a panel to consider the applications received for the East Midlands. The panel consisted of representation from the SHA, primary care trusts, East Midlands Development Agency, who delegated their responsibility to the Social Enterprise East Midlands representative and the Care Services Improvement Partnership lead for social care. Panel members received copies of all applications to consider in advance of the meeting. During the meeting each application was discussed and considered against the assessment criteria set out by the Department.

Turnaround Teams

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS bodies are in formal turnaround mode.

Andy Burnham: There are 104 organisations in the turnaround cohort.

Winter Deaths

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of the likely number of winter deaths among elderly people in the eastern region in 2006-07; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

TREASURY

Airline Passenger Duty

Jeffrey M Donaldson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will amend the implementation date of the proposed increase in airline passenger duty to ensure that passengers are not charged retrospectively by airlines in respect of flights already booked.

John Healey: holding answer 23 January 2007
	The announcement made in the 6 December 2006 pre-Budget report applies to the carriage of a passenger on an aircraft which begins on or after 1 February 2007.
	Air carriers (i.e. scheduled airlines and other air transport operators) are liable for the duty and responsible for ensuring they pay the correct amount of duty to HM Revenue and Customs. Since the duty was introduced in 1994, how, or whether, they choose to pass that cost on to their customers is a matter for them.

Carbon Emissions

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when his Department began to measure its carbon emissions; what the volume of those emissions was in the last period for which figures are available; when his Department started to offset those emissions; what the cost is expected to be of offsetting his Department's emissions in 2006-07; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Grayling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department has spent on carbon offsetting for air travel in the past 12 months.

John Healey: The Treasury has been measuring the carbon emissions for the office estate since 1999.
	The volume of emissions for the building for the last period measured (2005/06) was 1,189,241.93 kg C02, which is the weather corrected annual carbon emissions. All electricity used is generated from renewable sources.
	Work is underway to accurately calculate emissions from air travel. The Treasury will contribute this year to the carbon-offsetting fund, coordinated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to offset emissions from flights on departmental business from April 2006. On the basis of estimated air emissions of around 1,629 tonnes per annum, we would expect to pay 32,577 per annum.
	Opportunities to offset other emissions will be explored once levels have been reduced as much as possible.

Child Trust Fund

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a communications strategy was produced to promote the Child Trust Fund.

Edward Balls: A copy of Taking StockA review of Child Trust Fund marketing activity 2005-06 and Going forwardA preview of Child Trust Fund marketing activity for 2006-07 are available in the House of Commons Library. These set out the Child Trust Fund communications strategy since the launch of the campaign.

Child Trust Fund

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent on promoting the Child Trust Fund between 2003 and 2007.

Edward Balls: Advertising for the Child Trust Fund began in January 2005.
	The total media spend on advertising is detailed in the Child Trust Fund statistical report 2006, which was published on 21 September 2006 and can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctf/stats.htm.

Child Trust Fund

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether evaluation reports have been produced of the promotion of the Child Trust Fund.

Edward Balls: The Child Trust Fund communications campaign has been evaluated by independent tracking studies at six month intervals since its launch.
	A summary of the findings were included in the Child Trust Fund statistical report, which was published on 21 September 2006 and can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk/ctf.stats.htm.

City Refrigeration Holdings

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what payments from the public purse his Department has made to  (a) City Refrigeration Holdings and  (b) its subsidiary CBES Ltd in each year since 2003.

John Healey: The Chancellor's Departments has made no payments to either company, other than the normal tax transactions that may have been conducted by HM Revenue and Customs and its predecessor departments in relation to all businesses.

Climate Change

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the hon. Member for Morley and Rothwell has been appointed to a Government climate change taskforce.

John Healey: No such taskforce exists.

Departmental Contracts

John Grogan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which public affairs firms were given contracts by  (a) his Department and  (b) public bodies sponsored by his Department in each of the last five years; and what the purpose was of each contract.

John Healey: The Treasury has not let any contracts to public affairs firms in the last five years.

Departmental Press Office

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many new posts in his Department's press office have been created in the last 12 months.

John Healey: None.

Employment

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 7 January 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people were employed in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (118223)
	The Office for National Statistics compiles employment statistics for local areas from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	The attached table shows numbers of employed persons, aged 16 and over, in the Jarrow parliamentary constituency, South Tyneside metropolitan borough, the North East and the United Kingdom for the 12 month periods ending in February from 1997 to 2004 from the annual local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March from 2005 to 2006 from the APS. The table also shows the corresponding working-age employment rates.
	These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution.
	
		
			  Employment in the Jarrow parliamentary constituency, South Tyneside metropolitan borough, the North East region and the United Kingdom. 
			  Thousands 
			   Jarrow  South Tyneside  North East  United Kingdom 
			  12 months ending  Level( 1)  Rate( 2) (%)  Level( 1)  Rate( 2) (%)  Level( 1)  Rate( 2) (%)  Level( 1)  Rate( 2) (%) 
			 February 1997 34 62.8 61 64.5 1,049 66.5 26,011 71.9 
			 February 1998 32 68.1 57 65.8 1,053 67.3 26,357 72.6 
			 February 1999 35 71.2 59 64.5 1,047 66.9 26,659 73.3 
			 February 2000 36 67.8 58 64.1 1,041 66.6 26,908 73.6 
			 February 2001 35 67.0 58 63.4 1,064 68.4 27,180 73.9 
			 February 2002 36 68.6 60 65.4 1,062 68.4 27,433 74.1 
			 February 2003 35 69.5 61 65.4 1,067 68.6 27,566 74.0 
			 February 2004 35 67.7 60 65.5 1,069 68.5 27,789 74.1 
			 March 2005 35 68.1 62 66.8 1,100 70.3 28,032 74.3 
			 March 2006 36 69.8 63 67.2 1,104 70.5 28,117 74.1 
			 (1 )Persons aged 16 and over. (2 )Number of persons of working age in employment expressed a percentage of the resident working-age population. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. Changes in the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution.

Government Auctions

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer where his Department publishes information about Government auctions which it  (a) arranges and  (b) to which it contributes in (i) Blackpool, (ii) Lancashire and (iii) the North West; and when the next such auction will take place in each area.

John Healey: The Treasury has not recently arranged or contributed to any auctions in Blackpool, Lancashire or the North West and has no plans to do so.

Income Tax

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the value of income tax payments made by each income decile group in each year since 1997-98;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the value of national insurance payments made by each income decile group in each year since 1997-98.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7( ) February 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking (1) what estimate has been made of the value of income tax payments made by each income decile since 1997-98 (115529) and (2) what estimate has been made of the value of national insurance payments made by each income decile group since 1997-98 (115531).
	Estimates of income tax, and national insurance payments appear in the ONS analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income'. The latest analysis for 2004/05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12th May 2006 at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
	The tables below show the average annual payments of these taxes for households in each income decile. These average payments reflect both the number of households paying each tax, and the size of the payments. Since the results are based on a sample survey, some of the year to year movement is due to sampling variability. However the tables do illustrate longer term trends in the distribution of tax payments.
	
		
			  Average income tax by each household income decile( 1) ,( ) United Kingdom, 1997-98 to 2004-05 
			   per year 
			   Decile groups of all households ranked by equivalised disposable income  
			   Bottom  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  Top  All households 
			  At current prices
			 1997-98 239 344 514 1,010 1,764 2,443 3,392 4,693 6,049 11,954 3,240 
			 1998-99 216 354 514 1,027 1,712 2,427 3,254 4,323 5,853 13,169 3,285 
			 1999-2000 174 313 532 1,094 1,771 2,479 3,485 4,531 6,421 13,312 3,411 
			 2000-01 217 394 781 1,293 2,023 2,776 3,956 4,957 6,703 13,450 3,655 
			 
			 2001-02 232 335 666 1,386 1,989 2,781 3,987 5,279 7,338 15,902 3,989 
			 2002-03 196 484 657 1,297 2,024 2,833 4,064 5,459 7,427 15,131 3,957 
			 2003-04 271 359 684 1,277 2,026 2,959 4,004 5,508 7,413 16,266 4,076 
			 2004-05 194 451 809 1,351 2,210 3,030 4,079 5,749 8,094 16,590 4,256 
			 ' From 2002-03 onwards, Income tax is shown after the deduction of any tax credits, which offset payments of income tax. Before 2002-03 tax credits treated as social security benefits. The effects on these figures is small.  Source:  'The effects of taxes and benefits on household Income', ONS 
		
	
	
		
			  Average National insurance contributions by each household income decile, United Kingdom, 1997-98 to 2004-05 
			   per year 
			   Decile groups of all households ranked by equivalised disposable income  
			   Bottom  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  Top  All households 
			  At current prices
			 1997-98 75 141 215 414 718 985 1,249 1,646 1,967 2,147 956 
			 1998-99 96 162 236 478 756 1,000 1,348 1,675 2,002 2,330 1,008 
			 1999-2000 84 148 244 466 724 1,038 1,334 1,635 2,147 2,179 1,000 
			 2000-01 82 158 295 459 783 1,054 1,434 1,683 2,006 2,302 1,026 
			 
			 2001-02 84 130 258 456 795 1,068 1,433 1,863 2,342 2,564 1,099 
			 2002-03 79 181 271 520 758 1,029 1,484 1,871 2,222 2,595 1.101 
			 2003-04 92 183 330 610 925 1,301 1,622 2,161 2,616 3,326 1,317 
			 2004-05 90 236 428 636 1,030 1,358 1,724 2,321 3,023 3,506 1,435 
			  Source:  'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income', ONS

Minimum Wage

Stephen Byers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the savings to the tax credits and welfare benefits system of an increase in the national minimum wage to  (a) 6,  (b) 6.25 and  (c) 6.50 an hour.

Dawn Primarolo: The estimated savings to the exchequer from tax credits and income related benefits from an increase in the adult rate of the National Minimum Wage (5.35 per hour) in 2007-08 are:
	
		
			million 
			  (a) 6.00 299 
			  (b) 6.25 438 
			  (c) 6.50 589 
		
	
	Estimates are based on Family Resource Survey data for 2004-05, uprated to 2007-08.
	These figures do not take any account of likely behavioural change caused by a rise, such as changed levels of employment or hours worked. They also do not include the effect of the 25,000 disregard in tax credits, which allows income to rise between one year and the next by up to 25,000 before tax credits begin to be withdrawn. This means that the savings from tax credits would in practice be significantly smaller, at least in the first year.

Ministerial Visits

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1341W, on ministerial visits, what the total cost was of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury's trip to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on 19th to 20th December 2006.

Edward Balls: I visited Israel and the Occupied Territories in December as part of the work Jon Cunliffe and I are leading on opportunities to support economic development to accompany and enhance the Middle East peace process.
	All ministerial visits are conducted in accordance with the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers. As with all inquiries relating to the cost of ministerial travel, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the information the Government have published on an annual basis since 1999, listing overseas travel by Cabinet Ministers costing in excess of 500 and the total cost of all ministerial travel. Information for 2006-07 will be published as soon as possible after the end of the financial year.

Party Political Funding

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Mr. Hayes) of 30 November 2006,  Official Report, column 838W, on party political funding, whether funds donated from councillors' allowances direct from the council payroll to  (a) a political party and  (b) a political group of the council are (i) tax deductible and (ii) liable for income tax and National Insurance.

Dawn Primarolo: Party political donations paid either to a political party or political group are not tax deductible and the councillor's allowance would be liable for income tax and national insurance in the normal way.

Personal Income

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the net income would be of  (a) a single parent and  (b) a married couple with one earner on one half to two thirds of average earnings, with the same rent payment, assuming that each is entitled to the (i) working tax credit, (ii) the child tax credit, (iii) child benefit, (iv) housing benefit and (v) council tax benefit.

Dawn Primarolo: The net income for both specimen households on one half median earnings, with one child, would be 282 per week.

Prudential Code

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints have been received from county councils concerning losses in theoretical grants due to the 2006-07 changes to the Prudential Code; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: I have been asked to reply.
	I have received no such complaints.

Repossession

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to reduce property repossessions.

Edward Balls: The latest data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that the number of repossessions in 2006 was less than one half of the number of repossessions in 1997, and one fifth of the number in 1991 relative to the total size of the mortgage market.
	The Government's aim is to provide a framework of macroeconomic stability, within which people can make informed, responsible borrowing decisions.
	In 2004 the Government extended the scope of FSA regulation to cover mortgages. FSA regulation ensures that borrowers are afforded important protections and have appropriate means of redress.
	On 15 January 2007, the Government launched a long-term approach to financial capability, which will help to improve consumers' understanding of financial products and includes a feasibility study on promoting access to generic preventative financial advice.
	The Government provides targeted support for homeowners in financial difficulty through support for mortgage interest (SMI).

Tax Burden

Alan Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average tax burden was on each income decile in each year since 1979.

Dawn Primarolo: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 February 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the average tax burden was on each income decile in each year since 1979 (105733).
	Estimates of the average tax burden for household income decile groups are based on the ONS analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income'. The latest analysis for 2004/05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12th May 2006 at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits.
	The analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
	The table below shows the average tax burden for each household income decile group. They have been calculated from the numbers appearing in Table 14 of this year's article, and previous versions of the same table. Data has been provided back to 1988, the earliest year for which it is available on a reasonably consistent basis.
	The tax burden is the proportion of gross income taken in both direct and indirect taxes. Gross income includes income from wages, occupational pensions, self-employment income, investment income, and income from state benefits, all before tax. Direct taxes include income tax, national insurance contributions and council tax. The indirect taxes include VAT, duties, and a number of smaller items such as television licences. Indirect taxes also include intermediate taxes these are indirect taxes paid by companies which are deemed to be passed onto households through the prices they pay for goods and services. A more detailed breakdown showing each of the different taxes appears in the annual article.
	There was a change in the way the figures were compiled in 2002/03 which will affect the estimated tax burden. Up until 2001/02, charges for water, environmental and sewage services were treated as local taxes, whereas from 2002/03 onwards they were excluded. The local tax category now just includes council tax and Northern Ireland rates, and in the annual article it is labelled as such.
	Based on figures for 2001/02, the effect of this definitional change is to reduce average household payment of local taxes/council tax from 3.0% of gross income to 2.2%. This obviously reduces the overall estimate of the average tax burden by 0.8%.
	There was also a change to the way that tax credits were treated from 2003/04 onwards. Up until 2002/03 tax credits were treated as cash benefits. From 2003/04, they are classified as negative income tax, but only to the extent that income tax less tax credits, remains greater than or equal to zero for each family. So for households paying relatively little or no income tax, tax credit payments were still regarded either partially or wholly, as cash benefits. Based on figures for 2003/04, the effect of this change is to reduce the estimate of the average tax burden for all households by 0.3%.
	The tax burden, when expressed as a proportion of gross income appears particularly high for the bottom income decile, although this result needs to be interpreted carefully. The apparently high tax burden is due to payment of indirect rather than direct taxes Estimates of indirect taxes are imputed based on household expenditure. It should be remembered that measured expenditure will not necessarily balance with measured income for the year. This is especially true for the bottom income decile where average measured income is significantly lower than average expenditure. For these households, when their payment of indirect taxes (which reflect expenditure) are expressed as a proportion of gross income, the result is a high calculated tax burden.
	There are a number of plausible reasons why for some households, expenditure might exceed income. Households with low incomes may draw on their savings or borrow in order to finance their expenditure. In addition, the lower decile in particular includes some groups, who have, or report, very little income (for example, self-employed people starting a business or someone who has just been made redundant). In these cases, expenditure is not being met from current income. Some types of receipts are not included as income in the EFS e.g. inheritance and severance payments. In some cases, the information given on expenditure is not consistent with that on income received because of timing differences.
	
		
			  Average tax burden as a percentage of gross income for each income decile, United Kingdom 1988 to 2004-05 
			  Percentage 
			   Decile groups ranked by households equivalised disposable income  
			   Bottom  2( nd)  3( rd)  4( th)  5( th)  6( th)  7( th)  8( th)  9( th)  Top  All households 
			 1988 45.8 34.5 35.9 38.1 38.3 39.3 38.6 38.6 37.9 32.9 37.0 
			 1989 44.9 33.8 33.9 37.1 38.2 37.8 37.3 37.1 37.2 32.9 36.2 
			 1990 46.3 34.5 34.9 37.8 36.2 36.9 37.1 35.7 35.5 32.2 35.4 
			 1991 43.3 33.3 33.4 36.4 36.5 36.8 36.8 36.2 35.5 32.4 35.2 
			 1992 47.1 33.5 33.0 34.4 36.3 36.7 36.4 35.4 35.0 33.7 35.3 
			 1993 46.2 33.8 32.7 34.4 36.0 36.7 36.8 36.3 36.5 34.3 35.8 
			 1994-95 44.6 33.9 32.5 34.3 35.7 37.0 36.9 37.5 36.9 35.4 36.3 
			 1995-96 51.0 34.2 34.1 37.3 37.0 37.8 37.8 37.6 38.1 35.8 37.3 
			 1996-97 44.0 32.6 33.6 35.7 35.6 37.2 37.0 37.1 37.0 33.9 35.9 
			 1997-98 44.0 33.5 32.9 35.5 36.0 36.5 37.4 37.8 36.5 34.6 36.1 
			 1998-99 47.7 34.9 33.9 35.9 37.0 37.9 38.3 38.1 37.4 35.7 37.1 
			 1999-2000 50.4 35.4 33.4 36.8 37.3 37.5 37.5 38.3 37.1 33.8 36.5 
			 2000-01 47.6 36.6 35.8 36.7 37.6 38.0 38.2 38.2 37.6 34.2 36.9 
			 2001-02 53.3 34.7 32.7 34.9 35.7 36.1 36.9 36.1 36.3 33.6 35.6 
			 2002-03(1) 46.6 32.3 30.7 33.5 34.3 35.1 35.6 35.3 35.2 35.0 35.0 
			 2003-04(2) 44.3 33.3 31.6 33.6 34.4 35.9 36.5 36.4 36.7 34.8 35.5 
			 2004-05 42.6 32.4 31.8 33.3 35.1 34.9 36.2 35.8 36.7 34.9 35.3 
			 (1) From 2002-03 onwards charges for water, environmental and sewage services were no longer treated as a tax. (2) From 2003-04 onwards tax credits were treated as a negative tax.  Source: 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income', ONS

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will break down the tax credit figures in Tables B13 and B16 of the Pre-Budget Report between the working tax credit, the child tax credit and the pension credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The tax credits figures in the tables referred to do not include pension credit, which is not a tax credit.
	The figures are of net payments on a cash basis. The detailed information needed to break these down between child tax credit and working tax credit in a meaningful way is not available, and cannot be obtained except at disproportionate cost.
	However, Table 3.1 at Note 3 to the HMRC Trust Statement for 2005-06 shows the full breakdown for HMRC expenditure in that year on an accruals basis. Note that these figures exclude the payments of child allowances in income support and job seeker's allowance, which are included in the tax credits figure shown in Table B16 (see footnote 1 to that table).

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many  (a) representations and  (b) appeals against the credit overpayment recovery decisions by HM Revenue and Customs were received in each month from April 2005 to January 2007; how many appeals were successful in each month; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: For the number of overpayments disputed and remitted in each month up to and including April 2006 I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 18 July 2006,  Official Report, columns 359-60W. For similar information relating to the period May 2006 to August 2006,1 refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 10 October 2006,  Official Report, columns 730-31W.
	The number of disputed overpayments written off on the grounds of official error in October and November 2006 were provided in the answer I gave the hon. Member for Rayleigh (Mr. Francois) on 8 January 2007,  Official Report, columns 428-29W.
	Around 800 overpayments were written off in part or in full by the Tax Credit Office because of official error in September 2006 and around 600 in each month December 2006 and January 2007.
	The number of tax credits overpayments disputed in each month October 2006 to January 2007 (inclusive) was around:
	
		
			   Number disputed 
			 October 2006 34,000 
			 November 2006 25,500 
			 December 2006 23,000 
			 January 2007 21,500 
		
	
	The figures for overpayments written off do not directly relate to those disputes that were received in the same month. TCO does not separately record whether an overpayment is written off in part or in full.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the operation of the IT systems for tax credits between 30 September 2006 and 31 January 2007; how many payments were made manually in each month over this period; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The performance of the tax credit system is continually monitored and is proving to be stable.
	The number of manual payments made in each month between 30 September 2006 and 31 January 2007 was around:
	
		
			   Number of payments (Thousand) 
			 October 2006 25 
			 November 35 
			 December 20 
			 January 2007 45 
		
	
	The allocation of payments to precise payment dates requires a degree of estimation and are therefore rounded to the nearest 5,000.

Tax Credits

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many notices warning of legal proceedings if payment is not made have been sent to individuals claiming tax credits who are in dispute with HM Revenue and Customs.

Dawn Primarolo: Where H M Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has tried but failed to contact a customer by telephone or where HMRC does not have their telephone number a letter is issued asking for payment and advising that enforcement action may be taken. In January 2007 approximately 30,000 such letters were issued and HMRC is aware that a number of customers have stated that they dispute the debt but were unable to contact the Department by telephone to confirm this due to a heavy volume of incoming telephone calls. The Department has no exact statistics on the number of cases involved but have now stopped issue of the letters and are reviewing the process for telephone call handling.

Tax Credits

Alistair Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether Mr. Richard Summersgill, the director of the Tax Credit Office, received a bonus in  (a) 2004-05 and  (b) 2005-06.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 6 February 2007
	Mr. Summersgill became director of Child Benefit and Tax Credits Operations in July 2005. In 2004-05 and 2005-06 he received non-consolidated payments as part of the senior civil service pay scheme in connection with previous duties.

Tax Credits

Anthony Steen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the letters from HM Revenue and Customs of  (a) 22 November 2006 (ref. HMRC 2006/08 006309KH) and  (b) 22 January 2007 (ref. HMRC 2007/01 005703KH) to the hon. Member for Totnes, on the case of constituent Oliver Tringham of Dartington, what technical problem has prevented the settlement of Mr. Tringham's tax credit claim; what steps he is taking to ensure the problem is tackled; and what the reasons are for the time taken to conclude this matter.

Dawn Primarolo: I have asked HM Revenue and Customs to urgently investigate Mr. Tringham's case. Tax Credit Office will write to the hon. Member with full details of their findings.

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date he expects HM Revenue and Customs to introduce the automatic limits on in-year recovery of overpaid tax credits which were announced in the 2005 pre-Budget report; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I refer the hon. Member to the statement I made on 6 December 2006,  Official Report, column 14-15WS.

Tax Free Childcare Vouchers

Paul Goodman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost of raising the value of the tax free voucher to  (a) 75 and  (b) 100;
	(2)  what the cost was of providing tax free childcare vouchers to parents in 2005; and what estimate he has made of the likely cost in each year from 2006-07 to 2009-10;
	(3)  how many employees received tax exempt childcare vouchers in 2005-06; and how many employees are expected to receive them in  (a) 2006-07,  (b) 2007-08,  (c) 2008-09 and  (d) 2009-10, broken down by the numbers using vouchers for (i) under fives and (ii) older children.

Dawn Primarolo: HMRC commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), an independent social research organisation, to monitor the initial impact of the reforms to the tax and NICs exemptions for employer-supported child care, from the employer's perspective.
	NatCen published their report on 6 December 2006 and it can be accessed from the HM Revenue and Customs website at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/research-report23.htm It includes information on the number of employees using the tax and national insurance contributions exemptions today and indications of how this may change in the future. The report gives information too on the income level of beneficiaries and the average size of claims made. The report also outlines the ages of children using child care supported through the exemptions.

Tax Statistics

Alan Milburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of the average per capita tax paid by each income decile group.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 7 February 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent parliamentary question asking what the most recent estimate is of the average per capita tax paid by each income decile group. (115448)
	Estimates of the tax paid by households are provided in the ONS analysis The effects of taxes and benefits on household income. The latest analysis for 2004-05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12 May 2006 at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits. The analysis is based on data from the expenditure and food survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK.
	The results in the article are presented for households rather than on a per capita basis. However, the following table shows average tax paid per capita within each household decile group. A more detailed breakdown showing each of the different taxes appears in the annual article (although presented as household averages, rather than per capita).
	The direct taxes include income tax (after deduction of tax credits), employees' National Insurance contributions, and council tax. The indirect taxes include VAT, and duties, and a number of smaller items such as television licences. Indirect taxes also include intermediate taxes - these are indirect taxes paid by companies which are deemed to be passed onto households through the prices they pay for goods and services. More details are available in the article.
	
		
			  Average per capita tax paid by each household income decile, United Kingdom 2004-05 
			   per year 
			   Decile groups of households ranked by equivalised disposal income 
			   Bottom  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  Top  All households 
			 Direct taxes(1) 826 1,234 1,854 2,683 4,047 5,261 6,738 9,076 12,195 21,321 6,523 
			 Indirect taxes(2) 2,738 2,979 3,106 3,713 4,439 4,692 5,297 5,715 6,560 8,099 4,734 
			 Average per capita tax 3,564 4,213 4,960 6,396 8,485 9,953 12,035 14,791 18,754 29,420 11,257 
			 (1) Direct taxes/include income tax (after deduction of tax credits), employees' national insurance contributions, and council tax. (2) Indirect taxes include VAT, duties, and a number of smaller items such as television licences.  Source: 'The offsets of taxes and benefits on household income 2004/09, ONS'

Taxation

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what effect on the income generated to the Exchequer since 1999 has resulted from the  (a) abolition of higher tax relief for vocational training,  (b) tax on premiums paid by tenants to landlords to induce tenants to take out a lease and  (c) increases to vehicle excise duty from new classes of lorries with 11.5 tonne axle weights;
	(2)  what effect on the income generated to the Exchequer has resulted from the abolition of the foreign earnings deduction since 1998.

John Healey: The figures relating to vocational training relief (VTR) charges were published in the 1999 Budget report:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget/budget_99/budget_report/bud99_chap01_budgetmeasures.cfm
	There was no increase in vehicle excise duty rates relating to the increase in maximum lorry drive axle weights from 10.5 tonnes to 11.5 tonnes. Vehicle excise duty for trucks was reformed in 2001, when rates for lorries were cut by up to 50 per cent.
	The estimated yield from the abolition of the foreign earnings deduction is available in the HM Treasury's publication (HC620) Financial Statement and Budget Report 1998, table C.1 'The Budget Measures'. A copy of which can be found on the HM Treasury website at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/budget/budget_1998/budget1998_budget_report/bud98_budmeas_annexc.cfmin

Taxation: Self-assessment

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the cost to  (a) an individual taxpayer,  (b) a partnership taxpayer and  (c) a trust taxpayer of filing their tax return online if they are required to file all the additional supplementary pages;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the amount spent by taxpayers on purchasing software necessary to file their tax returns online.

Dawn Primarolo: Self assessment tax returns can be filed online using either HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) full SA online service or proprietary software produced by commercial software vendors. Most proprietary software purchased to facilitate online filing of self assessment tax returns is bought by tax agents and is typically part of a broader package embodying accountancy and client management facilities. As such, no estimate of these costs has been made.
	Most individual taxpayers can file their self assessment tax returns online using HMRC's free online service which covers most circumstances. Other individual taxpayers filed using proprietary software, the cost of which varies.
	Partners can also file their own tax returns using HMRC's free online service. But both the partnership and trust return can only be filed using proprietary software.

Unemployment

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the level of unemployment was in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 7 January 2007:
	The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the level of unemployment was in (a) Jarrow constituency, (b) South Tyneside, (c) the North East and (d) the UK in each year since 1997. I am replying in her absence. (118227)
	For unitary and local authorities, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces estimates of total unemployment from a statistical model. For all other estimates of unemployment for local areas, ONS compiles statistics from the annual local area Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Annual Population Survey (APS) following International Labour Organisation definitions.
	Table 1, attached, shows the numbers of unemployed, aged 16 and over, resident in the Jarrow constituency, the North East region and the United Kingdom, for the 12 months ending in February from 1997 to 2004, from the annual local area LFS and for the 12 months ending in March 2005 and 2006, from the APS and the corresponding unemployment rates which are defined as the number of unemployed expressed as a percentage of the economically active population. Corresponding model-based estimates are provided for South Tyneside except for the 12 months ending March 2005 for which estimates are currently unavailable.
	These estimates, as with any from sample surveys, are subject to a margin of uncertainty. In particular, estimates for Jarrow are for a subset of the population in a small geographical area and thus are based on very small sample sizes. In this case, the sample sizes are not sufficient to give an accurate estimate of even the direction of the change over the period. The model-based estimates are subject to random variability.
	ONS also compiles statistics for local areas of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA). Table 2, attached, shows the annual average number of people, resident in the Jarrow constituency, South Tyneside metropolitan borough, the North East region and the United Kingdom, claiming JSA from 1997 to 2006. The table also includes these figures expressed as a proportion of the resident working-age population.
	
		
			  Table 1: Unemployment in the Jarrow parliamentary constituency, South Tyneside metropolitan borough, the North East region and the United Kingdom. 
			  Thousand 
			   Jarrow  South Tyneside( 1)  North East  United Kingdom 
			  12 months ending  Level  Rate( 2)  (%)  Level  Rate( 2)  (%)  Level  Rate( 2) (%)  Level  Rate( 2 ) (%) 
			 February 1997 5 13.7 8 11.8 118 10.1 2,207 7.8 
			 February 1998 5 14.1 8 11.6 106 9.2 1,911 6.8 
			 February 1999 3 6.9 7 10.2 93 8.2 1,730 6.1 
			 February 2000 4 10.5 8 12.7 107 9.3 1,689 5.9 
			 February 2001 4 10.1 7 10.5 90 7.8 1,518 5.3 
			 February 2002 4 9.1 7 10.1 84 7.3 1,450 5.0 
			 February 2003 3 7.4 6 9.2 76 6.6 1,494 5.1 
			 February 2004 3 7.1 6 8.6 77 6.7 1,444 4.9 
			 March 2005 3 7.9 n/a n/a 69 5.9 1,378 4.7 
			 March 2006 3 7.4 6 8.9 73 6.2 1,483 5.0 
			 Source: Annual local area Labour Force Survey, Annual Population Survey. (1 )Model-based estimates of unemployment. Estimates are subject to random variability. (2 )Number of persons, aged 16 and over, expressed a percentage of the resident economically active population aged 16 and over. Estimates are subject to sampling variability. Changes In the estimates over time should be treated with particular caution. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Annual average number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance in the Jarrow parliamentary constituency, South Tyneside metropolitan borough, the North East region and the United Kingdom. 
			   Jarrow  South Tyneside  North East  United Kingdom 
			   Level  Proportion( 1)  (%)  Level  Proportion( 1)  (%)  Level  Proportion( 1)  (%)  Level  Proportion( 1)  (%) 
			 1997 3,119 6.4 7,004 7.7 94,459 6.1 1,602,442 4.5 
			 1998 2,766 5.7 6,283 6.9 84,399 5.4 1,362,340 3.8 
			 1999 2,820 5.8 6,477 12 81,042 5.2 1,263,001 3.5 
			 2000 2,625 5.4 6,058 6.7 73,363 4.7 1,102,257 3.0 
			 2001 2,377 4.9 5,540 6.1 63,852 4.1 982,998 2.7 
			 2002 2,273 4.7 5,207 5.7 59,026 3.8 958,759 2.6 
			 2003 1,986 4.1 4,588 5.0 53,806 3.4 945,894 2.6 
			 2004 1,742 3.6 4,078 4.5 47,093 3.0 866,144 2.3 
			 2005 1,824 3.7 4,096 4.5 46,594 2.9 874,417 2.3 
			 2006 1.870 3.8 4,251 4.6 56.792 3.2 956.732 2.6 
			 (1 )Number of claimants expressed as a percentage of the resident working-age population. (2 )Proportions for parliamentary constituencies are based on 2001 Census data adjusted to be consistent with 2001 mid-year population estimates for local authorities. Source: Jobcentre Plus administrative data

WORK AND PENSIONS

Atos Origins Assessors

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how people with  (a) mental health problems,  (b) learning disabilities and  (c) autistic spectrum disorders will be involved in the new training for Atos Origins assessors.

Jim Murphy: We will consult with the relevant representative organisations to ensure that the training provided to healthcare professionals involved in the revised personal capability assessment process is in keeping with the needs of our customers, including those with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and autistic spectrum disorders.
	The National Autistic Society, for example, has already provided valuable advice in devising a training module on the assessment of those with Asperger Syndrome.

Bankruptcy

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people he estimates have lost their pension due to declaring themselves bankrupt since the Landau case of 1996.

James Purnell: The information requested is not available.

Benefit Costs

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on each category of benefit administered by his Department in the last year for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is available on the DWP website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp

Benefit Fraud

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the budget was of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate and its predecessor for each year since 1997; how many staff it employed in each year; and what its national targets were in each year.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial Year  Expenditure ( million)  Staff employed 
			 1997-98(1) 3.44 86 
			 1998-99 5.8 133 
			 1999-2000 5.64 138 
			 2000-01 5.88 149 
			 2001-02 5.55 137 
			 2002-03(2) 7.11 136 
			 2003-04 7.71 139 
			 2004-05 7.86 154 
			 2005-06 7.1 147 
			 2006-07(3) 5.6 127 
			  Notes: (1 )The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate was launched in November 1997 so expenditure represents November 1997 to March 1998. (2 )Includes recruitment for Comprehensive Performance Assessment work and Performance Improvement Action Team (funded by Treasury Invest to Save Money). (3 )Expenditure represents April 2006 to December 2006. 
		
	
	The BFI contributes towards the Department for Work and Pensions Public Service Agreement targets and objectives. These targets and objectives are in the Departmental report, which is available in the Library.

Benefits Simplification Unit

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what recent steps he  (a) has taken and  (b) plans to take to reduce the complexity of the benefits system;
	(2)  what targets have been set for the Benefits Simplification Unit;
	(3)  what reports the Benefits Simplification Unit has published since its inception;
	(4)  what recommendations the Benefits Simplification Unit has made since its establishment; and how many of these have been adopted by his Department.

James Plaskitt: The Benefit Simplification Unit's role is to reduce existing complexity across the benefits system, and to ensure that the move towards a simpler, more transparent system is at the heart of future benefit design and delivery.
	Progress on simplification will be reported on annually in the departmental report, and the effectiveness of the unit will be reflected in the extent to which key performance indicators are met across the Department, where these indicators are partly dependent on the complexity of the system.
	On 4 May 2006, the unit published Simplification: Guide to Best Practice. The guide is available to all departmental staff, copies have been placed in the Library and it can be accessed by members of the public through the Department's internet site.
	On 24 January 2007, the Department published Official Error Task Force and Benefit Simplification Unit: Progress Report which summaries the progress made by both the Official Error Task Force and the Benefit Simplification Unit during their first year of operation and details the future strategy that the Benefit Simplification Unit plans to adopt during 2007. Copies of the progress report have been placed in the Library.

Benefits: Yeovil

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each local authority ward in Yeovil constituency were receiving  (a) council tax benefit,  (b) pension credit,  (c) incapacity benefit,  (d) jobseeker's allowance,  (e) disability living allowance and  (f) income support in each year since 1989; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The available information has been placed in the Library.
	Information is not available on council tax benefit at local authority ward level.

Call Handling Statistics

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of calls to his Department and its agencies in each year from 2002-03 to 2006-07 were  (a) handled by an adviser,  (b) received but abandoned and  (c) received an engaged tone, broken down by line of business.

Anne McGuire: The information is as follows.
	
		
			   Calls handled by adviser  Calls abandoned  Received engaged tone( 1)  Other outcomes( 2) 
			  DWP business  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage  Number  Percentage 
			  CSA( 3) 
			 2002-03 3,121.363 85.5 528,404 14.5 0 0 508,784 12.3 
			 2003-04 3,416,746 72.8 1,273,788 27.2 0 0 866,949 13.8 
			 2004-05 4,239,694 84.2 794,264 15.8 0 0 274,959 4.8 
			 2005-06 4,395,747 91.2 423,464 8.8 0 0 126,849 2.4 
			 2006-October 2006(4) 2,565,836 96.8 84,064 3.2 0 0 69,182 2.3 
			  
			  DCS Helpline( 5) 
			 2002-03 3,829,154 82.0 840,986 18.0 12,203,595 72.3   
			 2003-04 3,917,613 80.6 940,799 19.4 19,978,016 80.4   
			 2004-05 4,425,920 81.9 979,045 18.1 18,526,578 77.4   
			 2005-06 4,725,283 92.4 387,172 7.6 36,849 0.7   
			 2006-October 2006 2,766,634 91.9 244,470 8.1 20,072 0.7   
			  
			  Benefit Enquiry Line( 5) 
			 2002-03 1,148,695 80.2 282,900 19.8 149,402 9.4   
			 2003-04 1,247,725 78.5 341,420 21.5 907,194 36.3   
			 2004-05 1,077,290 74.2 375,069 25.8 1,070,533 42.4   
			 2005-06 947,663 76.9 285,446 23.1 564,970 31.4   
			 2006-October 2006 665,907 91.8 59,356 8.2 13,719 1.9   
			  
			  Debt Management 
			 2002-03(6) 
			 2003-04(6) 49,673
			 2004-05(6) 251,625  15  
			 2005-06(6) 490,776148,350 17.7 4,036 0.5 
			 2006-October 2006(6) 552,4468,280 1.0 5,239 0.6 
			  
			  Employer Direct 
			 2002-03 1,743,240 95.4 82,433 4.6 0 0 0 0 
			 2003-04 1,796,077 94.6 101,359 5.4 0 0 0 0 
			 2004-05 1,727,685 95.4 84,102 4.6 0 0 0 0 
			 2005-06 1,549,847 95.6 55,669 4.4 0 0 0 0 
			 2006-October 2006(7) 
			  
			  Jobcentre Plus Direct 
			 2002-03(8) 6,413,846 89.9 723,486 10.1 0 0 0 0 
			 2003-04(8) 7,243,994 88.5 311,897 11.5 0 0 0 0 
			 2004-05 10,188,510 79.3 2,601,619 20.3 0 0 0 0 
			 2005-06 14,105,571 86.6 2,131,998 13.1 0 0 0 0 
			 2006-October 2006(7) 10,658,295 94.7 579,301 5.1 0 0 0 0 
			  
			  The Pension Service( 9) 
			 2002-03 
			 2003-04(10) 11,984,203 91.1 977,526  570,620 7.3   
			 2004-05 17,634,265 90.8 1,474,293 7.4 265,576 2.0 139,778 1.0 
			 2005-06 13,000,183 94.0 800,568 5.1 58,439 0.6 81,794 0.6 
			 2006-October 2006 6,392,505 96.8 319,615 4.7 8,829 0.2 31,714 0.5 
			 (1) Engaged toneor referred to as blocked calls. These calls will result in the customer receiving an engaged tone or automated message as a result of proactively blocking the calls from arriving to the centre. (2) Other outcomesapplies to calls which are not presented to the contact centre due to technical reasons only such as system failures, system overload, power cuts, etc. In these circumstances the customer would receive an engaged tone, automated message, ring tone no reply or disconnect. (3) CSA other outcomes figures exclude calls answered by automated message. (4) CSA figures are for both CSCS and CS2 systems. (5) DCS helpline and benefit enquiry line have considerably reduced the number of engaged tones customers receive from 2005-06 as a result of old telephony systems being replaced with new, providing increased capacity and functionality. Calls receiving the engage figures include other outcomes. (6) Data not available for Debt Management for 2002-03 as robust measurement systems not in place. Only limited data available prior to 2005-06 as phased implementation of advanced telephony systems commenced in 2005. (7) Jobcentre Plus Direct figures include for Employer Direct, NINO allocations and National Benefit Fraud Hotline due to organisational changes. (8) Jobseeker direct telephony figures only. First contact process implemented into contact centres from 2004-05. (9) The Pension Service was launched in April 2002.The majority of the contact centres/help-lines became fully operational and appropriate data collection processes were put in place by August 2003; robust data are not available prior to August 2003. Prior to reporting year 2006-07 TPS calculated the proportion of calls answered differently from other agencies (and could not be amended as related to PSA). From reporting year 2006-07 TPS calculation has been aligned with the standard definition used across the Department. Total abandoned call figures provided. (10) Comprehensive data for the Pension Service are not available for 2003-04. Figures represent part year data only from August 2003-March 2004 and therefore unable to provide robust figure for proportion abandoned. Achievements against targets on blocked and answered calls have been taken from figures published in the annual report and accounts for 2003-04.  Notes: 1. Proportion of calls handled by adviser/abandonedcalculated using calls offered for the adviser to answer. These figures do not include calls receiving an engaged tone and other outcomes because the adviser is unable to answer such calls. 2. Those calls receiving an engaged tone and other outcomes occur and are measured before they reach the contact centre and before being offered for the adviser to answer. This is a standard telephony definition.

Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 30 October 2006 about discrimination against deaf people.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 18 December 2006
	I replied to the hon. Member's letter on 18 December 2006. A copy of my reply has been sent separately to the hon. Member.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many children with disabilities are in receipt of disability living allowance, broken down by component.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 5 February 2007
	As at 31 May 2006, the latest date for which figures are available, 289,680 children aged under 16 were receiving disability living allowance. Of those, 283,050 were receiving the care component and 190,730 were receiving the mobility component.
	Source:
	Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data.

Disabled: Newcastle upon Tyne

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of  (a) incapacity benefit,  (b) severe disablement allowance and  (c) disability living allowance there were in each ward of the City of Newcastle upon Tyne between May 2000 and May 2006.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 5 February 2007
	The information has been placed in the Library.

Employment Equality: Age Regulations

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what representations he has received from employers in  (a) the private sector and  (b) the public sector on the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I have been asked to reply.
	We have received representations from the Employers Forum on Age, the Association of British Insurers and Group Risk Development about insured benefits, and from the CBI on the occupational pensions provision of the regulations. We have also received representations from the Employers Forum on Age and the Engineering Employers Federation about redundancy schemes which do not fall within the exemptions contained in the age regulations. In addition the British Boxing Board of Control has made representations about age limits for licences for professional boxers. We have had no separate representation from public sector employers.

Financial Assistance Scheme

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been paid out by the Financial Assistance Scheme since its inception.

James Purnell: As at 5 January 2007, since its inception the Financial Assistance Scheme had paid out a total of 2,696,967.20 gross (2,092,759.18 net) to 765 qualifying members. In addition payments will be made to a further 179 people when they reach age 65.

Financial Assistance Scheme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what role the trustees of pension funds have in assisting people in accessing the Financial Assistance Scheme; and what advice his Department is making available to trustees about their role.

James Purnell: In accessing the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) the role of Trustees is to:
	Provide the information required to notify the pension scheme to FAS and to supply the information necessary to determine whether the scheme qualifies.
	For schemes that are winding-up, consider applying for initial payments and provide the necessary member data to assess eligibility
	For wound up schemes, provide the necessary member data for annual payments to be assessed, or inform FAS who holds this information.
	Keep members informed of progress.
	The following guidance is made available for trustees
	DWP Leaflet P2, sent to all Trustees in September 2004, provides an in depth guide for trustees and scheme professionals
	The FAS website provides information, guidance and copies of the FAS legislation
	FAS staff have undertaken a series of meetings with all interested trustees to explain the processes, answer any questions and discuss specific pension schemes.
	Each scheme is allocated to a Customer Account Manager (CAM) who is available to give guidance to trustees by telephone or personal visit.

Financial Assistance Scheme

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average time taken for applicants eligible for payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme to receive such payments following applications.

James Purnell: Before the Financial Assistance Scheme is able to start processing applications for individual scheme members, the pension scheme has to complete the Notification and Qualification processes. These involve the trustees and administrators providing basic scheme information to the FAS Operational Unit. They then have six months to provide data on individual members before a notice requiring provision of this information can be issued. As at 29 December 2006, the average time taken (since FAS operations started in September 2005) from first notification of a scheme to the date of the first payment to a member was 190 working days.
	Within this period, the average time taken by the FAS Operational Unit from first receipt from the trustees or administrators of member data to the date of the first payment to a member of the scheme was 24 working days.

Housing

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of single claimants under 25 years old in the local housing allowance pathfinders face a shortfall between their eligible and contractual rents.

James Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the written answer I gave the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander), on 10 January 2007,  Official Report, column 643W.

Industrial Diseases Compensation

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims were made in Wales under the compensation scheme for slate quarrymen in each of the last three years.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 1 February 2007
	There are no specific data available on the number of claims made in Wales by slate quarrymen under the Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers' Compensation) Act 1979.
	The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  All claims made in Wales under the Pneumoconiosis etc (Workers Compensation) Act 1979 
			   Number of claims 
			 2003-04 65 
			 2004-05 289 
			 2005-06 273

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants there were of industrial injuries disablement benefit in  (a) England,  (b) Wales and  (c) each Welsh parliamentary constituency in each of the last three years; and what percentage of the relevant working population each figure represents.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 1 February 2007
	Information on the number of industrial injuries disablement benefit cases in payment is not available at constituency level.
	The available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Industrial injuries disablement benefit cases in payment 
			   England  Wales 
			   Number of cases in payment  Percentage of working age population  Number of cases in payment  Percentage of working age population 
			 2004 219,575 0.7 19,240 1.1 
			 2005 219,670 0.7 19,380 1.1 
			 2006 219,155 0.7 19,290 1.1 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are based on 100 per cent. data and exclude reduced earnings allowance cases. 2. Figures are taken at March each year and rounded to the nearest five. 3. The percentage of population has been calculated using mid-2005 population estimates. Working age has been defined as females aged 16 to 59 and males 16 to 64.  Source: DWP Information Directorate

National Insurance Fund

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what has been the annual loss to the National Insurance Fund from the reduction of employers' contributions on the introduction of the aggregates levy and other environmental taxes; and what the yield of each of those was taxes in each year since their introduction.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The landfill tax, climate change levy and aggregates levy were introduced with offsetting cuts in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs). The information requested is shown in the following tables.
	
		
			  Landfill tax (LFT) revenue and value of 0.2 percentage point cut in main rate of employers' NICs 
			   million 
			   LFT revenue( 1)  Approximate value of 0.2pp cut in main rate of employers' NICs in 1997-98( 2) 
			 1996-97 (3)170  
			 1997-98 352 550 
			 1998-99 323 610 
			 1999-00 442 n/a 
			 2000-01 476 n/a 
			 2001-02 508 n/a 
			 2002-03 538 n/a 
			 2003-04 638 n/a 
			 2004-05 668 n/a 
			 2005-06 743 n/a 
			 2006-07 (4)0.8 billion n/a 
			 n/a = Not available (1 )On accruals basis. Based on LFT declared on trader returns (2 )Source: Based on HM Treasury Tax Ready Reckoner (3 )From October 1996 (4 )Expected 
		
	
	Landfill tax was introduced with an offsetting 0.2 percentage point cut in the main rate of employer NICs from 1997-98. It is not possible to calculate the effects of the compensation for the landfill tax on employer NICs after 1999 due to structural changes to employers' NICs.
	
		
			  Climate change levy (CCL) revenue and value of 0.3 percentage point cut in employers' NICs 
			   million 
			   CCL revenue( 1)  Approximate value of 0.3 pp cut in employers' NICs( 2) 
			 2001-02 771 1,035 
			 2002-03 826 1,125 
			 2003-04 816 1,185 
			 2004-05 753 1,215 
			 2005-06 738 1,275 
			 2006-07 (3)0.7 billion 1,350 
			 (1 )On accruals basis. Based on CCL declared on trader returns (2 )Source: Based on HM Treasury Tax Ready Reckoner (3) Expected 
		
	
	
		
			  Aggregates levy (AL) revenue and value of 0.1 percentage point cut in employers' NICs 
			   million 
			   AL revenue( 1)  Approximate value of 0.1 pp cut in employers' NICs( 2) 
			 2002-03 309 375 
			 2003-04 340 395 
			 2004-05 334 405 
			 2005-06 323 425 
			 2006-07 (3)0.3 billion 450 
			 (1 )On accruals basis. Based on AL declared on trader returns (2 )Source: Based on HM Treasury Tax Ready Reckoner (3) Expected

National Insurance Numbers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers have been issued; and how many new numbers were issued in 2005-06.

James Plaskitt: There are approximately 76 million National Insurance numbers in issue. There were 1,486,312 National Insurance numbers issued in 2005 and 1,531,786 issued in 2006.
	 Notes:
	The number of National Insurance numbers issued includes the following:
	1. children who reach 16 years of age (the juvenile registration process);
	2. UK adults who missed out on the juvenile registration process and
	3. foreign nationals who enter the UK and require a National Insurance Number (NINO) for benefit, tax credit or employment purposes (adult NINO allocation process).
	4. In order to maintain the integrity of the system NINOs are not removed. For example, they are retained after a person dies or moves abroad.

National Insurance Numbers

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many National Insurance numbers have been issued since May 2004; and how many of these were to workers from EU accession countries, broken down by country of origin.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the requested format. The latest available information is in the following tables.
	
		
			  Number of National Insurance numbers issued 
			  Calendar year  Number issued 
			 2004 1,250,622 
			 2005 1,486,312 
			 2006 (to 31 October 2006)) 1,369,652 
			 Notes: The above figures relate to National Insurance numbers allocated to: 1. Children who reach 16 years of age (the juvenile registration process); 2. UK adults who missed out on the juvenile registration process and 3. Foreign nationals who enter the UK and require a NINO (adult NINO allocation process). 
		
	
	
		
			  NINOs allocated to A8 applicants by country of origin from May 2004 to 30 September 2006 
			  A8 applicants by country  Allocated for employment purposes 
			 Czech Republic 24,699 
			 Estonia 5,304 
			 Hungary 15,561 
			 Latvia 23,469 
			 Lithuania 49,835 
			 Poland 303,254 
			 Slovakia 44,538 
			 Slovenia 698

National Insurance Numbers

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many national insurance numbers were issued to citizens from the  (a) Czech Republic,  (b) Estonia,  (c) Hungary,  (d) Latvia,  (e) Lithuania,  (f) Poland,  (g) Slovakia,  (h) Slovenia,  (i) Bulgaria and  (j) Romania in each month of each year since 1997.

James Plaskitt: Information is not available prior to April 2002. The available information has been placed in the Library.

Pension Credit

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to encourage eligible pensioners to claim pension credit.

James Purnell: The Pension Service is undertaking a wide range of steps to encourage eligible pensioners to claim pension credit.
	We are writing to everyone who we believe may have an entitlement to pension credit, encouraging them to apply and advising how the Pension Service can help them do so. Over 2 million mailings are planned through 2006-07.
	We are broadening the appeal of pension credit by focusing our contacts with pensioners much more on their needs as a whole. The Pension Service Local Service offers face-to-face visits to the most eligible and vulnerable pensioners during which full benefit entitlement checks are carried out. One million home visits will be carried out during 2006-07.
	The Pension Service Local Service is continuing to work very closely with local partners (including local authorities as well as voluntary organisations such as Help the Aged and Age Concern) to maximise take-up of pension credit for pensioners. We are widening the scope of partnership activity and expanding our current work programme with key utilities and other major companies whose customers include likely eligible non-recipients to pension credit. These activities are being supported by national press advertising to maintain the high profile of pension credit. Local marketing and media campaigns will be targeted in those regions and areas where there are relatively high numbers of eligible non-recipients.
	In addition, we are improving our service and encouraging take-up by enabling new customers who call to claim their state pension, to also apply for pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit in a single call if appropriate.
	The programme for the future transformation of the Pension Service enables customer advisers to encourage take-up of pension credit when customers call to notify key changes of circumstance.

Pension Financial Assistance Scheme

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many pension schemes which have applied to the Financial Assistance Scheme have provided an indication of the number of members in their scheme;
	(2)  how many schemes approved for the Financial Assistance Scheme that provided initial estimates of numbers of members in their schemes had  (a) fewer than 50,  (b) fewer than 100,  (c) between 101 and 200,  (d) between 101 and 250,  (e) between 201 and 500,  (f) between 251 and 500,  (g) between 501 and 1500 and  (h) over 1501 members.

James Purnell: Up to and including 12 January 2007, 627 pension schemes that have qualified for the Financial Assistance Scheme have provided estimates of the number of members in their schemes. The breakdown is not available in the format requested, but such information as is available is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of members  Number of schemes 
			 0-50 208 
			 51-100 135 
			 101-200 94 
			 201-500 113 
			 500-1,500 56 
			 Over 1,500 21 
			 Total 627

Pension Financial Assistance Scheme

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average amount is of monthly pension being received by pension schemes with members who are receiving annual payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme  (a) before tax and  (b) net of tax; and what the average amount is of monthly pension being received by the members of pension schemes who are now receiving initial payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme (i) before tax and (ii) net of tax.

James Purnell: As at 12 January 2007, the average amount of monthly pension being received by eligible members from the Financial Assistance Scheme for 2006-07 is as follows:
	For members receiving annual payments:
	 (a) before tax = 193.00 per month
	 (b) after tax = 150.64 per month
	For members receiving initial payments:
	i) before tax = 180.36 per month
	ii) after tax = 141.06 per month
	The figures are for 2006-07 only as figures for 2005-06 are not available without arrears. Given the low numbers paid in that year this does not make a significant difference to the answer.

Pension Financial Assistance Scheme

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of members of pension schemes who are now receiving initial or annual payments from the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS)  (a) who were receiving pension credit before receiving FAS payments but are now no longer receiving it and  (b) who are receiving both pension credit and FAS.

James Purnell: The information is not available to answer this question.

Pension Financial Assistance Scheme

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have received assistance from the Financial Assistance Scheme; and how much has been paid.

James Purnell: As at 12 January 2007, since its inception, the Financial Assistance Scheme had paid out a total of 2,726,811 gross (2,116,043 net) to 788 qualifying members. In addition, payments will be made to a further 193 people when they reach age 65.

Pension Tax Credits

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many overpayments of pension tax credits have been made to date; what the value is of these overpayments; and what the average debt incurred is by recipients of such overpayments.

James Plaskitt: Since the introduction of pension credit in 2003, up to 31 October 2006, 160,600 overpayments of pension credit have been identified and recorded on systems. They represent a total of 56.07 million of overpayments. The average of each debt is approximately 350.
	During 2005-06, the pension credit overpayments identified and recorded on systems represented 0.21 per cent. of the expenditure on pension credit in that year.
	In addition, a further 29,600 official error and small overpayments were identified although not formally recorded on systems. Their value was estimated at 4.9 million.

Pensions

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library  (a) tables showing the figures on which the charts in section 4.5 of the Gender Impact of Pension Reform are based and  (b) similar tables based on the assumption that the individuals concerned opt out of personal accounts.

James Purnell: (a) The data underlying the charts in section 4.5 of the Gender Impact of Pension Reform showing the outcomes for hypothetical individuals have been placed in the House Library as requested.
	Please note that these figures show some minor changes to those published in November 2006 reflecting some improvements in the modelling work. We have revised the publication to reflect these changes and to make other minor clarifications as necessary. Revised versions of the Gender Impact of Pension Reform have been placed in the House Library and on the Department for Work and Pensions website. The amendments do not in any way change the overall effects of the reforms shown in the publication.
	The amendments cover the following areas:
	(1) The charts in section 4.5 showing the outcomes for individuals under reform have been slightly revised to reflect the improved modelling.
	(2) Related revisions to table 4.xii (page 57). The figures for the two low-earners with career breaks also now show their income in 2005 including pension credit.
	(3) Corrigenda as follows:
	(i) Paragraph 162: Delete 220 per week; Insert around 265 per week
	(ii) Paragraph 165: Delete around 130 per week; Insert over 130 per week
	(iii) Paragraph 178: Delete less than half of the median male earner's income; Insert just over half of the median male earner's income
	 (b) The analysis carried out within the Gender Impact of Pension Reform was designed to examine the expected outcomes for illustrative individuals under the full package of pension reform measures including the state reforms and the implementation of personal accounts. The Department for Work and Pensions has not undertaken detailed analysis under different assumptions of private savings behaviour. It should be noted that for the illustrative individuals concerned, it is assumed that they do not contribute to a personal account during the periods when they are not in work.

Pensions: Indexation

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the annual cost of indexing the state pension against inflation to UK pensioners living overseas.

James Purnell: If the state pension of people living in frozen rate countries was brought up to the current rate they would have received if they had remained in the UK it would cost around 410 million in 2006-07 and would increase year on year. This figure does not include paying any arrears.

Personal Capability Assessment

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants have been involved in the dummy runs of the revised Personal Capability Assessment; and how many had  (a) mental health problems,  (b) a learning disability and  (c) an autistic spectrum disorder.

Jim Murphy: We are carrying out a two-part evaluation to ensure that the revised Personal Capability Assessment (PCA) constitutes a fair, robust and evidence based assessment of limited capability for work.
	An initial, limited, evaluation of the revised descriptors and scores was conducted in October 2006 to enable us to begin drafting regulations.
	The initial evaluation of the revised PCA descriptors involved 104 cases and 64 of these had a mental health condition. There were no cases involving either a learning disability or an autistic spectrum disorder because the majority of customers with these conditions are currently exempt from the PCA face to face examination.
	We are about to embark on a more extensive evaluation with a more representative sample of claimants. We are working with the consultative groups who are advising the Department on the review on how to ensure that customers with these conditions are included in the evaluation.

Personal Capability Assessment

Janet Dean: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether stakeholders being consulted on the transformation of the personal capability assessment have been given access to LiMA beyond a demonstration of the computer system.

Jim Murphy: Members of the personal capability assessment consultative groups have received a demonstration of the Logic integrated Medical Assessment (LiMA) and how it works. It is outside the remit of the PCA consultative groups to review the LiMA software which is owned by Atos Origin and is, therefore, commercially sensitive information.
	The LiMA system does not make the benefit entitlement decision and is used as a computer based support tool for doctors conducting face-to-face PCA examinations.
	The LiMA system is constantly under review. It will be fully updated to take account of the revised PCA descriptors prior to the introduction of employment and support allowance.

Storage of Explosives Regulations

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  if he will list the sites covered by the Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations; which such sites were inspected by the Health and Safety Executive in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and which such sites have suffered  (a) a serious/notifiable incident and  (b) a near miss since the regulations came into force;
	(2)  if he will list the sites covered by the  (a) Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations and  (b) Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations which have been the subject of an enforcement notice or prosecution since the regulations came into force.

Anne McGuire: I have placed in the Library a comprehensive table and explanatory notes that provides information relevant to the questions on those sites regulated by HSE.

Voice Stress Analysis

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what representations his Department has received in the last three years on the use of voice stress analysis in the investigation of suspected fraudulent  (a) incapacity benefit claims and  (b) other benefit claims; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what discussions his Department has had on the use of voice stress software in the assessment of claims for compensation under schemes for which his Department is responsible in the last two years; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what plans his Department has made to pilot voice stress analysis for  (a) analysis in the investigation of fraudulent benefit claims and  (b) assessment of claims for compensation for which his Department is responsible.

James Plaskitt: I refer the hon. Member to the Written Answer I gave him on 26 January 2006,  Official Report, column 2391.

Winter Fuel Payment

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent representations he has received on the winter fuel payment.

James Purnell: There have been a number of recent representations on the winter fuel payment. These include calls for an increase in the payment, for the payment to be extended to disabled people under 60 years of age and most recently to people receiving disability living allowance who are terminally ill, and for a change in the qualifying week, which is set in legislation as the third full week in September.

Winter Fuel Payment

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the  (a) effects and  (b) administrative costs of changing the date relating to eligibility for winter fuel payments to (i) 31 October and (ii) 31 December each year.

James Purnell: If the deadline to qualify for this winter's payment had been the 31 October, around 60,000 more people in Great Britain would have become eligible to receive a payment at an additional cost of approximately 8 million. If the deadline had been the 31 December, around 150,000 more people in Great Britain would have become eligible to receive a payment at an additional cost of approximately 21 million.
	The qualifying week for winter fuel payments is set in legislation as the third full week in September. This date is used in order to establish entitlement and make payments before Christmas. If a later date were used, the payment exercise could not be completed in time for the payments to be available by Christmas. We decided to make all automatic payments by Christmas to reassure pensioners that they will have extra money available to pay for heating their homes during the coldest part of the year. If the qualifying week were to be significantly later than it is at present, then payments would have to be made in the early part of the following year. Departmental computer systems are already working to full capacity during the early months of the year to accommodate the uprating of benefits in April. It would not be possible to issue over 11 million winter fuel payments at the same time without putting this at risk.
	No assessment has been made of the administrative costs if the qualifying date was changed to either 31 October or 31 December each year but they are likely to be negligible as the same processes would be used.

Workstep

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many Workstep places are unoccupied, broken down by location; and whether he plans to reallocate those places to providers who have already successfully filled their allocation.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 18 January 2007
	The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Unfilled Workstep places at the end of November 2006 by Jobcentre region 
			   Number 
			 East Midlands 86 
			 North East 151 
			 London 167 
			 South East 94 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 211 
			 Wales 54 
			 West Midlands 162 
			 Scotland 163 
			 South West 98 
			 North West 205 
			 East of England 166 
			 Nationally-contracted provision 97 
			 Total 1,654 
			  Note: Figures for Workstep are not collected for any smaller geographical units. 
		
	
	We have no plans to re-allocate these unfilled places as a level of under-occupancy based on previous performance is assumed for contracting purposes and for setting the annual expenditure allocation for the Workstep programme.